Iraq, Iran sign long-term electricity contract
kurdsatnews
Jul 19, 2022
An Iraqi worker in a private electricity generating company, turns the switches to transfer electricity to private homes in Basra, Iraq, Thursday, July 30, 2020.
Mehrabian said moves to sign long-term strategic electricity contracts are considered the most significant diplomatic achievement for the current Iranian government, which has yielded promising results for Iran.
He added that Iran is considered the largest producer and distributor of electricity in West Asia and the strongest country despite the recent economic slowdown in the electricity industry.
In an interview with the Fars news agency, the Iranian energy minister, referring to Iran's capabilities in the field of electricity among West Asian countries, said, "Iran's power in the field of electricity is not only limited to the installed capacity of power plants, and due to the expansion of local know-how, not only in the areas of construction, upgrading, repairs and maintenance of power plant units. We are a self-sufficient country in the world, but we have significant exports of all kinds of engineering services in the field of electricity."
According to a spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity, Iraq generally imports 50 to 70 million cubic meters of gas a day from Iran in summer and winter, which generates electricity. Recently, imports from Iran reached 5 to 8 million cubic meters per day, so much so that some production units stopped operating. The United States has given Baghdad a waiver to import its energy needs from Iran as Washington has spearheaded one of the toughest sanctions in history on Iran.
On July 17, Saudi Arabia and Iraq signed the executive report on the principles of the electricity interconnection agreement between the two countries implementing the memorandum of understanding signed at the beginning of 2022.
The electrical interconnection will link from Arar in northern Saudi Arabia to Yusufiya near Baghdad and have a capacity of 1,000 megawatts and a voltage of 400 kilovolts, with a length of 435 km.
Iraq hopes to increase its electricity production as the country provides electricity to households only several hours a day, and the rest is supplied by generators that pose tremendous health problems. Iraq's electricity problems deepen during the summertime as demand for electricity increases in blistering heat.
He added that Iran is considered the largest producer and distributor of electricity in West Asia and the strongest country despite the recent economic slowdown in the electricity industry.
In an interview with the Fars news agency, the Iranian energy minister, referring to Iran's capabilities in the field of electricity among West Asian countries, said, "Iran's power in the field of electricity is not only limited to the installed capacity of power plants, and due to the expansion of local know-how, not only in the areas of construction, upgrading, repairs and maintenance of power plant units. We are a self-sufficient country in the world, but we have significant exports of all kinds of engineering services in the field of electricity."
According to a spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity, Iraq generally imports 50 to 70 million cubic meters of gas a day from Iran in summer and winter, which generates electricity. Recently, imports from Iran reached 5 to 8 million cubic meters per day, so much so that some production units stopped operating. The United States has given Baghdad a waiver to import its energy needs from Iran as Washington has spearheaded one of the toughest sanctions in history on Iran.
On July 17, Saudi Arabia and Iraq signed the executive report on the principles of the electricity interconnection agreement between the two countries implementing the memorandum of understanding signed at the beginning of 2022.
The electrical interconnection will link from Arar in northern Saudi Arabia to Yusufiya near Baghdad and have a capacity of 1,000 megawatts and a voltage of 400 kilovolts, with a length of 435 km.
Iraq hopes to increase its electricity production as the country provides electricity to households only several hours a day, and the rest is supplied by generators that pose tremendous health problems. Iraq's electricity problems deepen during the summertime as demand for electricity increases in blistering heat.
