BAGHDAD, March 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Shanghai Electric Group, the world's leading manufacturer and supplier of power generation and industrial equipment, announced today that it has donated 40,000 pieces of surgical masks to employees of Shanghai Electric's Wassit Thermal Power Plant, the largest power station of its kind in Iraq, in response to the outbreak of COVID-19.
"The epidemic situation is gradually improving inside China, but the number of cases is still surging in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East," said Bian Changzheng, Commercial Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Iraq.
Chinese medical aid team at the Wassit Thermal Power Plant in Iraq
372,757 people in 167 countries and regions have been confirmed infected with COVID-19 to date. Iraq's major provinces have decided to close their borders, including Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, while others imposed a near-complete lockdown as precautionary measures. The Wassit Thermal Power Plant has implemented a series of on-site infection risk management and control measures to protect staff while working on-site since January this year.
"The pandemic has imposed unprecedented pressure on the health systems across the region, and the Chinese Embassy in Iraq is providing medical aid by financing epidemic prevention materials and transferring medical experts to Iraq," Bian made the remarks during a trip with Chinese Red Cross medical experts to the Wassit Thermal Power Plant for epidemic prevention, inspection and guidance. "Chinese companies have been undertaking aggressive measures to retain control over the coronavirus and maintain local workers' health and safety."
Located in the central Iraq's Wassit province, south of the city of Kut and about 120km southeast of Baghdad, the Wassit plant has four units with a generating capacity of 330MW each and two with a 610MW capacity each. With all six units being grid-connected and put into commercial operation in 2015, the plant has now been providing an overall output of 56 million kilowatt hours (kWh) per day, accounting for 30% of Iraq's national power generation and 70% of Baghdad's power consumption at peak time.
Shanghai Electric has been exercising the "EPC + O & M" solution by taking the lead in both the operation and maintenance of the power plant. To ensure the productivity and efficacy of the project, the company has designed and manufactured all major equipment of the plant, including boilers, steam turbines, generators, and condensers, as well as facilitated 150 Iraqi employees with practical training aimed at preparing them to operate and maintain the plant.
"Leveraging the project's positive momentum, the plant is established hand in hand with the ecological conservation and economic development. It has also played an essential role in the social development of the region, with Shanghai Electric pledging to help the local community by improving education, health, infrastructure and the overall lifestyle of the region," said He Zhuang of Shanghai Electric, the project manager of Wassit Thermal Power Plant.
About Shanghai Electric
Shanghai Electric Group Company Limited (SEHK: 2727, SSE: 601727) is principally engaged in the design, manufacture and sale of power equipment and industrial equipment. It focuses on new energy business, including the manufacture and sale of wind turbine and components as well as nuclear power equipment; clean energy business, including the manufacture and sale of thermal power equipment, power transmission and distribution equipment; industrial equipment, including the production and sale of elevators and electric motors; and modern service industry, including the contracting of construction of power generation plants, power transmission and distribution projects as well as other businesses.
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