Electricity demands in Kurdistan exceed expectations: officials

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Amid rolling blackouts in the hot summer months, officials from the Kurdistan Region say electricity demand is increasing and will likely continue.

“Demand on national electricity is increasing day by day. We had earlier anticipated that demand on electricity would reach 5,000 megawatts. It has now reached nearly this amount, which is a very high amount,” Omed Ahmad, director of Electricity Control in the Kurdistan Region, told Rudaw.

He added that demand is expected to rise even further, but the amount of electricity produced is still 2,700 megawatts. 

National electricity is supplied for 12 hours a day, he added. In June, during Ramadan, people were given 14 hours of national electricity.

Temperatures in the Kurdistan Region have risen into the mid-40 degrees Celsius in non-mountainous areas. People in cities or in areas without winds feel the heat, so they turn to private generators to power fans, refrigerators, air conditioners and coolers.

 

Additionally, in the Kurdistan Region's capital of Erbil there have been water shortages.