Power gradually returning after blackout in central, south Iraq

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Power is gradually being restored in central and southern Iraq on Friday, according to officials, after a collapse of the system caused a near-nationwide blackout.

“The electrical system has been gradually restored, as the Wasit and Dhi Qar lines were restored,” the electricity directorate of Muthanna governorate announced on Friday.

This has allowed a partial restoration of power in Baghdad, Kirkuk, and Karbala, according to the directorate. 

“There is no electricity since three in the morning. Our houses were not provided with enough electricity anyways,” Walid Salim, a truck driver from Samawah, the capital of Muthanna province, told Rudaw English. Temperatures there “are exceeding 45 degrees Celsius,” he said.

Power had been cut across central and southern Iraq due to a “complete collapse of the system as a result of a technical glitch,” the electricity directorate announced earlier on Friday.

Iraq suffers from chronic electricity shortages, keenly felt when summer temperatures reach over 50 degrees Celsius, caused by multiple factors, including poor government delivery of services, rampant corruption, terror attacks on the power grid, and Iran’s recent cuts of electricity and gas exports because of unpaid bills. 

The minister of electricity resigned this week, days after prominent Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr demanded his dismissal and started a Twitter campaign protesting power shortages.

Rudaw English contacted spokesperson for the Ministry of Electricity, Ahmed Musa, but he was not immediately available for comment.

Final exams for ninth grade students have been postponed because of the heat and power outages, the Ministry of Education announced on Friday. They had been scheduled for July 4.

In Baghdad, the power went out at three in the morning, Ali Qassem, a lab technician, told Rudaw English. The overworked generator in his neighbourhood also failed. “The electricity generator for al-Amiriya neighborhood broke down after several hours of non-stop power generation,” he said.

Photos of families sleeping in their cars, trying to get some relief from the air conditioners, are circulating on social media.

“The electricity was completely cut off at three o'clock in the morning in Wasit and we heard news of a complete shutdown of the electrical system,” Safaa Rashid, a journalist from Wasit province, told Rudaw English.

On Wednesday, angry demonstrations erupted in Aziziya district of Kut city, Wasit governorate, protesting the electricity shortages. Riot police used live ammunition and tear gas to disperse the protest, injuring some demonstrators.

“We were surprised by the brutal repression we were subjected to by the security forces in Aziziyah. And there was a campaign of arrests that followed the repression,” Ahmed Bashik, an activist from Kut, told Rudaw English on Wednesday.