Iraq is heading to the embrace of the Gulf electricity and hopes to recover its economic health

BAGHDAD -

Through the electrical interconnection project with the Arab Gulf states, Iraq aspires to meet part of its electricity needs.

In September 2019, the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity concluded an agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council to establish two lines for the transmission of electric power with a length of 300 km, divided into two distances, 80 km inside Iraq and 220 km inside the State of Kuwait. The project, if completed, will provide Iraq with hundreds of megawatts of energy. electrical.

Iraq seeks to import electricity from Turkey in the north, with which the project has reached significant completion rates, in addition to the electrical connection with Jordan from the west.

Al-Abadi expects to actually start work on the Gulf electrical connection in the summer of 2022 (Al Jazeera Net)

Gulf Connection

With regard to the Gulf interconnection project and the construction of the transmission line between the Al-Faw station in Basra in southern Iraq and the Al-Zour station in Kuwait, the media spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity, Ahmed Al-Abadi, confirmed that Iraq had fully achieved the requirements of the connection on its part, suggesting that actual work would start and receive energy in the summer of 2022.

On the possibility of Iraq dispensing with importing gas and energy from Iran, Al-Abadi ruled out that in the coming period, noting that the Gulf connection would provide about 500 megawatts of electricity to Iraq.

He explained that Iraq's production of electrical energy is now about 21,145 megawatts, and the import from the Gulf will be about 500 megawatts, while the size of the local need for electricity exceeds 35,000 megawatts.

Al-Jawahiri: Entities described as the deep state impede the investment of associated gas and keep Iraq as a gas importer (Al-Jazeera Net)

unexploited gas

According to World Bank data, Iraq burns more than 17 billion cubic meters of gas associated with oil annually, ranking second after Russia.

Hamza Al-Jawahiri, an expert in oil and gas affairs, attributes the reason for not investing associated gas in operating electric power stations to Iraqi parties seeking to keep the country as a gas importer.

Al-Jawahiri told Al-Jazeera Net that those parties, which he called the "deep state", stand as an obstacle to investing the associated gas that is burned daily and incurs financial losses to the state in millions of dollars for their personal interests and the interests of the countries that support them.

Iranian import dues

Our attempt to contact the Iranian embassy in Baghdad to talk about the size of Iraq's debts as a result of importing gas and energy from Iran was unsuccessful.

There are no official data on the current size of the debt owed to Iran by Iraq in return for importing gas and electricity, but over the past two years, according to Al-Jawahiri's estimate, it may reach $3 billion.

Regarding those debts and the way to pay them, Al-Abadi explained that government delegations were sent to discuss with Iran to schedule them.

The government official adds that the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity is ready to pay all the Iranian financial dues that are payable for the value of a current supplied loan, bearing in mind that gas emissions from Iran decreased from 50 million cubic meters per day to 8.5 million cubic meters, which led to a reduction in the hours of electrical processing. for the Iraqis.

Al-Nabhani Basra is the first Iraqi province to benefit from the Gulf Electricity Interconnection Project (Al-Jazeera Net)

Basra is the first to benefit

Returning to talking about the Gulf interconnection project, the researcher in Iraqi economic affairs, Yousef Al-Nabhani, considered it one of the most important projects that the Iraqi government sought to implement, specifying its importance in that it would not only import energy to Iraq, but also create great reliability and stability for the national electricity grid in Iraq.

And about the economic benefits that will accrue to Iraq from this connection, Al Nabhani explained to Al Jazeera Net that it will make Iraq in the long run an energy corridor between East Asia and Eastern European countries.

The economic researcher indicates that Iraq will import electricity at reduced prices, as the price of the electrical unit will be 2 cents less than the unit price imported from Iran, which is 9 cents.

Al-Nabhani revealed that Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq, will be the first governorate to benefit from the Gulf Connection Project in the summer of 2022.

He concluded by saying that if energy is available from this project, the wheel of life will return to Basra, the economic capital of Iraq, and factories and factories will operate, with all other sectors activated.

Many Iraqis depend on private generators for insufficient government electricity (Al Jazeera Net)

popular hopes

Iraqi journalist Ahmed Imad Salman hopes for a new era of electric power in the country through the Gulf Interconnection Project to relieve the darkness of Iraqi days during the days of the year without electricity.

Salman expressed to Al Jazeera Net that he hoped that the completion of the project would be reflected in supporting the Iraqi economy, that it would recover and contribute to supporting the market movement and trade exchange.