“This project is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. The plant will generate 37 megawatts of electricity. The power from this project will be added into the national power grid and distributed to the provinces of the Region,” said Minister of Electricity Kamal Mohammed.
The power plant is located in Duhok’s Rashava valley, two kilometres from Deralok sub-district, where electricity shortages are a problem in the hot summer.
“It's so hot. There's no stability in the national power, unlike in previous years. Generators do not provide electricity until an hour after the national power outage,” said Adnan Hassan, who lives in Deralok.
“We have 10 to 12 hours of national power per day. The generator's power is poor. People are complaining a lot these days. We're struggling with shortages of electricity. This has an impact on the life of people,” said Rojhat Mohammed, another Deralok resident.
According to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Electricity, demand is at least 4,500 MW in summer. Currently, they are only producing 3,300 MW with power plants are not operating at full capacity. The biggest problem is lack of fuel.
The Deralok hydropower plant, costing $129 million, is financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
It will be able to keep producing power even when water levels drop.
“Nearly 40 gates have been installed to control the flow of water so the turbine keeps working when the water level drops. As the amount of water reduces, the performance of the turbine will decrease, but it will never stop operating,” said project manager Hassan Hirori.
The Kurdistan Region has chronic electricity shortages, unable to keep up with rising demand. In addition to increasing generation capacity with new power plants like Deralok and the Khabat thermal plant that came online last year, the government is rolling out a smart metering program to control demand and end theft.
Iraq suffered a nearly nationwide blackout on Friday, leaving people without power as during a heat wave that sent temperatures over 50 degrees Celsius. The Muthanna electricity directorate said there was a “complete collapse of the system as a result of a technical glitch.” Poor government delivery of services, rampant corruption, terror attacks on the power grid, and Iran’s recent cuts of electricity and gas exports because of unpaid bills have all contributed to Iraq’s power shortages.
Translation and additional reporting by Sarkawt Mohammed
