Iraq has lost nearly a quarter of its electricity production due to a reduction of gas imports from Iran, an Iraqi electricity ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Ahmed Mousa, the spokesperson of the Iraqi electricity ministry told Rudaw’s Mohammed Sheikh Fatih that “there is a decrease in gas imports from the Iranian side, due to maintenance work within Iran. This resulted in the loss of 4,200 MW [per hour] of electricity inside Iraq.”
Mousa said the maintenance work is expected to be finished by the end of this week.
Iraq currently produces around 18,600 MW of electricity per hour, according to Mousa, providing 16 hours of electricity per day in the country’s central and southern provinces.
Iraq imports electricity and gas from Iran to meet its increasing power demands. Mousa said the country relies on the imported Iranian gas to produce 8000 MW of electricity, importing an additional 1200 MW of electricity from its eastern neighbor.
“The electricity system currently requires 50 million cubic meters of gas [per day], the imported amount right now is 10 million cubic meters,” Mousa said.
Mousa stated that the ministry has given word to the Iraqi government that by May 1, the electricity production will rise to 27000 MW, in view of the scorching heat that will sweep across the country in the summer months.
For years, Iraq’s electrical grid has been dependent on gas imports from Iran to run its power generation plants. In July, Iranian state media said that Iran had exported 9.4 billion cubic meters of gas to Iraq in 2022, citing a report from the UK-based Energy Institute.
The country is no stranger to electricity shortages and sudden shutdowns. In July the electricity ministry announced that the country lost nearly 5,000 megawatts of power due to Iran completely stopping the supply of gas to the southern regions of the country.
In order to tackle dependency on Tehran and achieve self-sufficiency in gas and cease imports, the Iraqi oil ministry signed a $27 billion dollar deal with French giant TotalEnergies to develop Iraq’s oil, gas, and renewable energies sectors.
Iraq already suffers from chronic electricity shortages, especially felt during the summer months. The high temperatures subsequently lead citizens to consume very high amounts of power. In previous years, mass protests have erupted in the south during the summer as a result of electricity and water shortages.
