BAGHDAD, April 6 (Reuters) - Iraq's Electricity Ministry said on Wednesday it had shortlisted two private Kurdish-owned companies to build and operate a power plant costing up to $1 billion in Iraq's southern Basra province.
Iraq will select the winner between the two companies -- Jordan-based Mass Global Investment Co and Arbil-based Kar Group -- at the end of April, electricity ministry spokesman Musab al-Mudarres said in a statement.
The 1,250 megawatt power plant will be constructed on a build-own-operate basis in Shatt al-Basra, in Basra, Iraq's southern oil hub. The winning company will then sell the power generated by the plant to the government, the statement said.
The plant is due to start operating in May 2013.
Iraq needs more than 15,000 megawatts to meet peak summer demand. Its supply this summer is projected to be just 7,000 megawatts, enough to supply just eight hours of power a day.
Electricity demand in Iraq has risen since the 2003 U.S. invasion, but the national grid still only supplies a few hours of power per day, a major cause of discontent in a country that sits atop some of the world's biggest oil reserves.