ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s electrical system reached an unprecedented production rate exceeding 27,000 megawatts for the first time in its history on Tuesday, as the government ups the financial allocations to the electricity ministry to cover “urgent needs.”
“Since the end of last summer, the Ministry has worked on clear and specific programs and set feasible ceilings, in which its working staff were able to keep pace with the challenges, and worked rapidly to bring its stations’ readiness to produce (27,340 megawatts), achieving an increase of (3,000) megawatts over what the system achieved at this time last summer,” said the electricity ministry in a statement.
The ministry told Rudaw in late March that Iraq was on track to produce 27,000 megawatts of electricity by May 1.
The achievement comes despite the fact that the amount of imported gas is missing seven million cubic meters per day from the agreed upon releases, the statement added.
Iraq’s electrical grid has for years been dependent on gas imports from Iran to run its power generation plants. The country lost nearly 5,000 megawatts of power in July last year due to Iran completely halting the supply of gas to the southern regions of the country and cutting down exports to Baghdad and central Iraq.
In a session chaired by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, the Iraqi Council of Ministers on Tuesday approved an increase in the electricity ministry’s financial allocations by 300 billion dinars (around $230 million) to go towards “projects addressing urgent distribution network issues” and equipment.
Iraq’s national investment commission on Sunday signed an investment license with French energy giant TotalEnergies to develop a power plant with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts south of the country. The plant will reportedly contribute to supplying the southern area with clean energy for approximately 350,000 houses.
Despite its large oil and gas reserves, Iraq suffers from chronic electricity shortages, especially felt when summer temperatures reach over 50 degrees Celsius.
Sudani has repeatedly described improving the country’s energy sector as one of the main priorities of his cabinet, stating on multiple occasions that Baghdad seeks to achieve self-sufficiency in gas and end the import of the natural resource within the next five years.
Baghdad and TotalEnergies in July put pen to paper on a $27 billion contract to develop Iraq’s oil, gas, and renewable energies sectors, in a major step towards achieving gas self-sufficiency.
