Photo By Sgt. Daniel West | Mohammed Rahim, a generator operator in the al Horra District of al Kut, Iraq, watches...... read more read more
By Sgt. Daniel T. West
41st Fires Brigade
FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq – Wasit province is allocated 12 hours of power per day; however, problems with infrastructure in the city of al Kut have limited residents to just hours of electricity from the national grid each day.
Civil Affairs Soldiers based here recently began a series of reconnaissance missions to assess the state of electricity in al Kut and determine what can be done to help.
"The distribution infrastructure isn't what it could be," said Staff Sgt. David McFate, Company B, 411th Civil Affairs Battalion, and a native of Danbury, Conn. "Wire is mostly low gauge, and hand strung. They tap into the grid in many different places so the grid overloads, and there are many outages."
The national power grid has improved in recent weeks, increasing production from just minutes a day to two-four hours a day, according to Mohammed Rahim, a generator operator in the al Horra District of al Kut.
The improvement is due, in part, to a new switch gear, recently installed by Provincial Reconstruction Team Wasit in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said McFate.
Independent businessmen like Rahim step in to supplement the inadequate power supplied by the national grid.
"Individuals set up large generators and residents pay to tap into the power generated," said McFate. "It gives them up to an additional 12 hours of interrupted power."
The goal of McFate's team, he said, is to try to support these businesses; help with power generation; support small businesses; and help develop good business practices.
No concrete plans are in place yet; the project is still in its initial phases, said McFate.
First, McFate's team is trying to identify all of the independent generator owners in al Kut and identify business practices to support. They also want to find projects that could help develop the infrastructure.
Immediately, improving the efficiency of the power would help.
"Because of the nature of the wiring, a lot of power is lost," said McFate. "A lot of the wire is light gauge, almost speaker wire running to homes."
Additionally, operator need moreel for the generators.
"Right now, operators can't get the necessary fuel from official channels," he said. "They go to the black market for up to one third of their fuel. It's a lose-lose situation because it's more expensive, lower quality and the profits go to support bad elements."
Rahim, who supplies power for 110 homes, said he uses one barrel of fuel per day. He gets 18 barrels per month from the government and purchases the remainder from the black market at nearly double the cost.
The overall state of power generation capabilities has improved dramatically since 2003, but the availability of consumer electronics has increased demand as well.
"The end result is that the lights aren't on much more than they used to be," McFate said.
His team hopes to help change that.
| Date Taken: | 07.14.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 07.14.2008 10:46 |
| Story ID: | 21462 |
| Location: | AL KUT, IQ |
| Web Views: | 248 |
| Downloads: | 228 |
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