Prime Minister Mohammed Shiyaa Al-Sudani on Monday directed to work to achieve alternatives and quick solutions on the electricity crisis.
Al-Sudani, on Monday, instructed his team to work towards finding fast and sustainable alternatives to resolve the ongoing energy supply issue. His office issued a statement following a series of meetings dedicated to monitoring the status of electrical power production and formulating solutions to the emergent crisis concerning national grid supply.
During the meeting, the assembled experts from the Ministries of Electricity and Oil and several advisors reviewed actions taken to devise alternative and immediate solutions to the issue caused by the disruption in Iranian imported gas supplies.
According to the Prime Minister, the current government identified the root causes of the electricity crisis upon taking responsibility. They have since been working on a three-level solution strategy: immediate, mid-term, and long-term.
Immediate solutions include completing maintenance projects, enhancing power stations, activating cooling systems, and initiating projects to alleviate bottlenecks related to electric power distribution.
As a result of these measures, the government has succeeded in increasing the production of electrical energy to 26,000 megawatts – the highest in the country’s history. However, Al-Sudani emphasized that maintaining this level of production is contingent on the continuous supply of Iranian gas. He further noted that the American sanctions and non-compliance with the gas payment mechanism agreed upon in 2018 have led to a reduction of Iranian gas supply to more than half, adversely affecting the national production system.
Al-Sudani stressed that the government is determined to execute its mid-term plans, including executing contracts with Total SA and the fifth licensing round contracts, which will contribute to finding alternatives to imported gas.
Furthermore, the Prime Minister directed his team to focus on finding fast alternatives, consider providing free or symbolic price fuel to domestic generators, and continue the government’s efforts to import gas from Turkmenistan and Qatar.
Al-Sudani also directed the Ministry of Oil to finalize the remaining licenses of the fifth round, work with international companies to develop energy fields, and urged the Ministry of Electricity to invest urgently in power generation and production projects and work on solar power generation projects.
The ongoing electricity crisis in Iraq poses a significant challenge to the nation’s infrastructure and quality of life, with these proposed measures reflecting the urgency of the situation. The government’s focus on immediate, mid-term, and long-term strategies for increasing energy production and ensuring stable supply offers some hope for a resolution to this pervasive issue.
