From first energization to final handover: commissioning a 68 MWp solar and storage plant

Project: Basra Steel — 68 MWp Solar PV + 30 MWh BESS | Basra, Iraq | Full EPC delivered by ICCO | Completed 5 June 2026

Energization begins at the 220/132 kV substation and works inward. Image: project reference.

A power plant is not finished when the last panel is installed. It is finished when it has been proven to work safely with the grid.

On the Basra Steel project, completed by International Consolidated Contractors Offshore SAL (ICCO) on 5 June 2026, that proof covered a 68 MWp solar plant, a 30 MWh battery system, two substations and about 75 km of transmission lines and medium-voltage network. This article explains what that final phase involves.

Why commissioning carries so much weight

A plant connected at 220 kV becomes part of the national transmission system. A fault inside the plant can affect other users, and a disturbance on the grid can damage the plant.

Commissioning demonstrates that every protection, control and communication system responds as designed before the plant operates commercially.

The 30 MWh BESS is commissioned with controlled charge and discharge. Image: project reference.

The sequence

The contract scope lists testing, energization, synchronization, commissioning, performance verification and final handover. On a project of this type, those steps run broadly as follows:

1. Pre-commissioning tests. Each item is checked while still de-energized. This includes insulation tests on cables, ratio and winding tests on transformers, and timing tests on circuit breakers.
2. Protection and control checks. Relays are tested against their settings. Trip circuits and interlocks are proven end to end.
3. Energization. Power is applied in stages from the grid side inward. The 220/132 kV substation comes first, followed by the 132 kV lines, the 132/33 kV substation and the 33 kV network.
4. Synchronization. Inverters are brought online and matched to grid voltage and frequency. Output is raised in steps while behaviour is monitored.
5. BESS commissioning. The battery system is charged and discharged under control. Its management and safety systems are verified.
6. SCADA and telecommunications tests. Every signal and command is checked between field equipment, the control room and the grid operator.
7. Performance verification. The plant runs under real conditions to confirm that output and availability meet contract requirements.
8. Final handover. As-built drawings, test records, manuals and training are delivered to the owner.

Every signal and command is verified between field, substation, control room and grid operator. Image: project reference.

Solar and storage working together

A combined PV and battery plant needs more than each system working alone. The plant controller must coordinate them so that total output at the grid connection point stays within agreed limits.

Testing that coordination is one of the most detailed parts of commissioning a hybrid plant.

The value of one team

On the Basra Steel project, ICCO designed, built and commissioned every part of the system. The engineers who set the protection philosophy were part of the same organisation that tested it.

That continuity shortens fault-finding and gives the client a single point of accountability from first design to final handover.

About the Contractor — ICCO
International Consolidated Contractors Offshore SAL (ICCO) delivered this project as a single EPC contract — design, engineering, procurement, construction, testing and commissioning — through to energization and handover. Throughout this article, the contractor, the delivery partner and the EPC contractor refer to ICCO.