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Neighbours to supply Iraq with 3GW of electricity this summer

Iraq electricity Utility lines in Dohuk Alamy
To ensure power supplies round the clock, Iraq needs to produce 35GW to 40GW continuously
  • Tackling summer power shortages
  • 1GW from Iran, 600MW from Turkey
  • 500MW from GCC network

Iraq intends to buy 3,250 megawatts (MW) of electricity from neighbouring countries this summer, to fill a supply gap caused by a surge in domestic demand during the hot season.

Electricity ministry spokesman Ahmed Mousa said at the weekend that supplies would come from Turkey, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the common Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) power grid through Kuwait.

Mousa said the decision to increase electricity imports was part of an emergency plan to tackle power shortages during summer.

“We have devised an emergency plan to brace for summer. It includes increasing electricity supplies from neighboring countries and boosting the capacity of national grids,” he said.

Under contracts signed with those countries, Iran will supply Iraq with 1,000MW while Turkey will double supplies to 600MW, Mousa said.

Jordan will boost supplies through the new common border grid from 54MW to 150MW, while 500MW will come from the GCC network, most of which was completed in late 2024.

Mousa said Iraq had also signed a contract with Saudi Arabia for the supply of 1,000MW, to be raised when a link-up network project is completed.

“The electricity grid connections with neighbouring countries will boost confidence in Iraq’s power network and at the same time enable it to face growing summer demand,” he said.

Iraq, Opec’s second largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia, has been on a post-war drive to rehabilitate its infrastructure, including roads, electricity and communication.

Damage to power facilities has created a persistent supply gap, which worsened with the disruption in the Iranian gas supplies needed to operate Iraq’s power facilities.

An Iraqi MP said last year that domestic electricity needs exceeded local power generation because of gas shortages and war damage.

Solar power contracts

Iraq produced nearly 26,000MW of electricity last summer but domestic consumption exceeded 30,000MW, said Hassan Al-Assadi, deputy chairman of the parliament’s electricity and energy committee.

“In order to ensure power supplies round the clock, Iraq needs to produce 35,000 to 40,000MW continuously,” Assadi said.

On top of imports and projects to expand conventional power generation, Iraq has awarded solar power contracts to TotalEnergies of France, Acwa Power of Saudi Arabia and the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar).

Officials said in 2024 that these projects would produce 7.5GW when they are completed within three to four years. Baghdad has also awarded deals to develop its gas resources, to ensure its power facilities will work round the clock.