Five Substations

This project included the complete renovation of five 132 kV Substations in five locations in southern Iraq: Al Hammar, Harbour, Garma, Qurna and Toba.

Al Hammar, Harbour and Garma had been vandalized after the invasion of 2003, while Qurna and Toba suffered the effects of poor maintenance and the lack of spare parts due to the UN Sanctions.

Unique Challenges

Each site had unique requirements, which required unique solutions. Hammar, Toba, and Garma were main electrical supply points for the oil fields, feeding the water pumping stations. The Harbour substation, which was located close to the Shat Al Arab waterway, was critical to improving the electrical supply to the ports.

The Qurna substation was constructed on a new site parallel to the existing site. By building a new site, as opposed to rebuilding the existing one, we were able to minimize power outages for local residents. This was critical in this extremely unstable environment.

Overcoming Obstacles

For much of 2005 and 2006, these locations were among the safer parts of Iraq. The security situation deteriorated in late 2006 and incidents of IEDs increased. Intimidation to local staff and attacks on our convoys made the projects extremely difficult to manage.

Despite these extreme conditions, the Symbion team persevered and all sites are now operating and assisting with the improvements to both the oil sector and local growth.