Tactical Grace
17-03-2006, 23:49
The Americans have built a load of gas turbine power stations in Iraq. However, the available electrical power in Iraq has fallen to its lowest point since the invasion. Huh?
There are problems with sabotage, sure. But the real problem is a little technical detail which would slip past most people... gas turbines are cheap and quick to install, but they require a natural gas supply to work. Just as the 200GW of gas turbines built in the US under Bush (100x what was built in Iraq) lie largely idle because of a physical lack of gas to fuel them, the turbines in Iraq are being run on "low-grade oil" (I am assuming they are actually referring to gas condensate).
Iraq doesn't have a natural gas pipeline network. :headbang: In fact, the northern oil fields are screwed because during the period of UN sanctions, their gas caps were drained for use in cooking gas cannisters.
But hey. Ignore the engineering fundamentals. The capacity looks good on paper. :rolleyes:
And here is the most elegant part of the equation. One of the substations under construction will be capable of expansion to import an equivalent quantity of electrical power from Iran. And the Iraqi government would like to do it.
You have to laugh.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11830468/
There are problems with sabotage, sure. But the real problem is a little technical detail which would slip past most people... gas turbines are cheap and quick to install, but they require a natural gas supply to work. Just as the 200GW of gas turbines built in the US under Bush (100x what was built in Iraq) lie largely idle because of a physical lack of gas to fuel them, the turbines in Iraq are being run on "low-grade oil" (I am assuming they are actually referring to gas condensate).
Iraq doesn't have a natural gas pipeline network. :headbang: In fact, the northern oil fields are screwed because during the period of UN sanctions, their gas caps were drained for use in cooking gas cannisters.
But hey. Ignore the engineering fundamentals. The capacity looks good on paper. :rolleyes:
And here is the most elegant part of the equation. One of the substations under construction will be capable of expansion to import an equivalent quantity of electrical power from Iran. And the Iraqi government would like to do it.
You have to laugh.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11830468/