Minister Luai al-Khatib said on Monday, April 15 that he had asked the Iraqi National Electricity Company to start talks with Iran's Sanir company to complete a 320-megawatt power plant in Kirkuk’s district of Dubis.

Khatib explained that 65 percent of the power plant had been built by Russian company Power Machines before it withdrew from the project in 2011.

A high-ranking delegation from the federal government that included several ministers visited Kirkuk on Sunday on a fact-finding mission to determine what services and infrastructure projects the city needs in order to develop.

Electricity shortages are a major problem during the winter and summer seasons in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. Despite promises from officials to resolve the issue, it remains an abiding problem in the country.

IRNA reported on Monday that more than 65 million kilowatt hours of electricity worth $6.2 billion have been exported to Iraq since September 2004.

Reporter’s code: 50101