Iraq’s electricity shortfall is 19,000 megawatts: spokesperson

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq faces an electricity shortfall of around 19,000 megawatts and is cooperating with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to increase production, according to an official from Iraq’s ministry of electricity.

“Today what the system produces is 27,450 megawatts … the required load is 48,000 megawatts, meaning that there is a gap,” Ahmed Musa, the spokesperson for the Iraqi electricity ministry told Rudaw's Mohammed Sheikh Fatih on Monday.

Musa revealed that 80 percent of the country's power plants rely on gas, with a portion being imported from Iran under a five-year contract, supplying 50 million cubic meters daily.

He added that the Kurdistan Region is supplying Iraq with electricity, and in return Baghdad is providing fuel to the region for power generation.

“We have great cooperation with the Kurdistan Region's electricity ministry," Musa said, adding that “the [Iraqi] council of ministers has authorized the oil ministry to provide fuel to some of the power stations in Kurdistan.”

Iraq’s electrical grid for years has depended on gas imports from Iran to run its power 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 Iraq, as well as decreasing exports to Baghdad and central Iraq.

In late June, Iraq’s national investment commission signed an investment license with French energy conglomerate TotalEnergies to develop a power plant with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts for the south of the country. According to reports, the plant would be able to supply southern areas of Iraq with clean energy for approximately 350,000 houses.

In a session chaired by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, the Iraqi council of ministers approved an increase in the electricity ministry’s financial allocations by 300 billion dinars (around $230 million) in early July to go towards “projects addressing urgent distribution network issues” and equipment.

Despite its large oil and gas reserves, Iraq suffers from chronic electricity shortages, especially felt when summer temperatures climb 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.

In July 2023, Baghdad and TotalEnergies put pen to paper on a $27 billion contract to develop Iraq’s oil, gas, and renewable energies sectors - a major step towards gas self-sufficiency.