ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region’s electricity ministry on Friday announced that power has been restored after two major shutdowns blamed on a technical problem.
The national power grid experienced two shutdowns on Thursday and early Friday “due to a technical issue,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The electricity ministry is in constant efforts to increase production and restore the normal program for power distribution,” it noted.
Unreliable electricity is a frequent headache in the Kurdistan Region. According to data obtained by Rudaw, the capital city Erbil received only four hours of power in recent days. The other three provinces received between six and seven hours.
The electricity ministry generates about 3,800 megawatts of electricity, but it is not enough for 24-hour power due to high demand. And financial problems means power stations cannot always operate at full capacity.
Last Friday, the ministry said that two stations in Erbil province’s Khabat district were undergoing repairs, taking 300 megawatts out of the system since November 15. The stations were supposed to be back in operation late last month.
The dramatic drop in power generation comes as temperatures have fallen under ten degrees Celsius.
The government recently installed new meters in some neighborhoods and businesses, providing them with 24 hours of electricity, but with a ten-fold increase in the price. This angered many consumers as over a million public employees have not been paid their salaries for nearly three months.
When the national supply cuts out, people rely on private diesel-fuelled generators that are costly and polluting.
The government sells some electricity to customers in disputed areas, claimed by both Baghdad and Erbil.
