Posted on 08/18/2004 1:52:05 PM PDT by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
PENTAGON While violence continues in some parts of Iraq, this is a banner day for people in Basra (BAHS'-rah). Iraq's first new electric generating plant since 1976 is beginning operation there.
The Army Corps of Engineers supervised construction of the 40-megawatt facility, which should provide enough electricity to serve 120-thousand homes.
Dependable power, or the lack of it, has been a huge issue for average Iraqis ever since the fall of Saddam and the arrival of U-S forces. The Corps of Engineers is working with Iraqi technicians to get additional generating facilities on line within the month.
Exact location please so the ragheads can blow it up.
American tax dollars at work?
AMERICANS FIRST
Yea, if all you run is two lightbulbs and a small fan! 40 MW is enough for approximately 4,000 homes.
That'd be a mighty tricky task, IMHO.
Nice Post Willie.
The Army Corps of Engineers are excellent at this type of construction. We should've had power plant components stock piled and ready to ship over. In fact, we should have them stock piled period, all the time, all across the country. That way we can rebuild or repair standard power plants and have output capacity after a disaster or attack.
Then again, we probably already have that done.
American tax dollars at work?
Yes, but no new power plants coming online in California.
Thhe electric grid in the U.S. could use a major upgrade too.
Iraq said the will build two new oil refineries. In the U.S. we are closing our's down as demand goes up.
I almost can't wait until Iraq becomes fed up with us and asks us to leave.
That would be 40000 American homes, they don't have many things to plug in.
Oops, got carried away with my zeros.
I think 10kW per home is a bit high.
My house uses about 10kW HOURS per day (usually it is closer to 8kW hours per day). That comes out to an average load of 416 watts using the 10kW hours per day figure.
But I doubt you live in 130 degree weather... :)
The only way Iraq will become "fed up" is when they institute thier own versions of OSHA, EEOC, EPA, PDQ, LMAO, and innumerable other groups of letters that regulate every facet of our lives. The only reason we don't have any new power plants or refineries here in the good 'ol USofA is that we have made it illegal to build them. Smart, aren't we??
We are putting America first but to do that you have to have a stable IRAQ... Part of that is making sure people have power. I am sure the money came from oil revenues anyways.
40 Megawatts divided by 120K homes is 333 watts/home. That's a little light...no pun intended.
Recheck that. 10kW hours per day would add up to only 300 kW hours per month. I think you need to add a X 10 multiplier.
From the period of April 2002 to April 2003, my max monthly kWh usage was 533 (in August). Min was 210 (in March), and average kWh usage was 307. (This off an electric bill stub I found in the pile...)
I live in a townhouse (it's got a 2-ton 10 SEER AC unit), so it doesn't cost much to keep it cool.
If it had ben built in the US, it would have taken 10 years.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.