International donors discuss Iraq’s electricity crisis in Baghdad

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The International donors convened in Baghdad to discuss Iraq’s electricity shortage amid extremely hot weather, according to the US embassy. 

Iraq suffers from chronic electricity shortages, especially felt when summer temperatures reach scorching levels of over 50 degrees Celsius. The high temperatures subsequently lead citizens to consume very high amounts of power.

The US embassy in Baghdad said in a tweet on Thursday that its Deputy Chief of Mission David Burger “hosted international donors at the Embassy to discuss how to address the #electricity crisis in #Iraq" without mentioning the names of donors.   

“The United States remains committed to working with the Government of Iraq and the international community to resolve the electricity shortages,” added the embassy.

Iraq's electricity production has increased to 22,000 megawatts this year compared to last year's 21,000 megawatts, acting Electricity Minister Adil Karim said last month. However he mentioned that the country needs additional financial support to reach the required production rate of 35,000 megawatts.

Iraq and Saudi Arabia on July 15 signed an electricity interconnection agreement, which will see Baghdad linking its electric power grid with the Gulf, implementing a memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries on the same topic earlier this year.  

However, Karim later told Rudaw that at best the agreement only solves a small percentage of the country’s power issues.