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New projects and plans to expand existing utilities will lift Iraq’s total electricity generation to more than 41,000 megawatts (MW) by 2025, press reports said on Tuesday.
The cabinet has approved a “strategy” to achieve that goal in 2025, when domestic electricity demand is projected to reach 41,225 MW, Aliqtisad News said, citing sources at the Iraqi Electricity Ministry.
It said the strategy was devised by the Ministry with the aim of achieving self-sufficiency in power consumption in the OPEC member within three years.
“The strategy is intended to boost the country’s total electricity production to 41,225 MW in 2025 as local demand is expected to increase to that level,” the report said.
The strategy is based on new electricity and solar power projects, expansion of some stations, upgrading the efficiency of distribution and production facilities, and the completion of stalled power projects, the report added.
Iraq, OPEC’s second largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia, has been locked in a post-war reconstruction programme that includes rehabilitation of its energy sector. Over the past year, the country has awarded solar power projects to a number of foreign firms and there are plans to finalize similar contracts.
(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)
