Iraq 's electricity ministry said it had received bids from three international companies to build a gas-fired power plant with a capacity of 1,014 megawatts north of the capital Baghdad .

South Korea 's Hyundai Engineering and Construction submitted a bid to build the plant at a cost of $500 million, while Egypt 's Orascom Construction Co. offered to do it for $463 million and an unidentified Chinese company for $337 million, the ministry said in a statement Wednesday. Each of the three firms offered to build the plant within 24 months, it added.

The ministry said it would choose a winner among the three by the end of the month.

The project, located in Baiji, 200 kilometers north of Baghdad , would include installing six gas-fired units, with capacity of 169 MW each, that Iraq bought from Siemens in 2008.

Iraqis currently receive no more than four hours of state-supplied electricity per day in summer when temperature reaches as high as 50 centigrade, and less than six hours in winter. Those who can afford it get additional supplies from private generators.

Currently, electricity production and imports from Syria and Iran total about 7,000 MW, with demand around twice as much.

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