Iraq will award several contracts in early 2011 that aim to boost power-generation capacity by 2,750 megawatts within 18 months, the head of the country’s National Investment Commission said.

Negotiations with several companies are “in advanced stages” for the award of contracts for the additional capacity in the provinces of Basra, Samawa, Diwaniya and Maysan, Sami al- Araji said in an interview today in Amman, Jordan. “They will be awarded in the first quarter,” al-Araji said , declining to give more details.

Iraq, holder of the world’s third-largest oil reserves, has struggled to raise electricity production, which stood at about 8,000 megawatts in April, almost half of its domestic demand of about 14,000 megawatts, according to government figures. Iraqis currently receive power from the national grid for about one in every five hours.

Electricity Minister Karim Wahid quit in June amid violent street protests triggered by severe seasonal summer power shortages. Wahid said at the time that his efforts to overcome the problem had been thwarted by a lack of funding and fuel.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called in June for patience and said it would take two years for power plants being built by General Electric Co. and Siemens AG to come online and help resolve power shortages.

The finance ministry said in June that it would issue bonds to pay for contracts signed in 2008 with GE and Siemens to add almost 9,000 megawatts of capacity.