ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Baghdad and Amman on Sunday signed an agreement which enables the Iraqi government to import electricity from Jordan starting late 2022.
In a virtual meeting between Iraqi electricity minister Majid al-Emara and his Jordanian counterpart Hala Zawati, an electricity agreement was signed between both countries that allows Baghdad to import 150 megawatts from Jordan.
“During the meeting, the Iraqi-Jordanian electrical interconnection agreement was signed. This agreement provides the exchange of energy and the creation of a promising energy market in the future, in which the two countries will exchange mutual benefits in all fields,” read a statement from the Iraqi electricity ministry.
“The first phase is to supply Iraq with 150 megawatts, through Iraqi lines that are connected to the Jordanian lines. The electrical lines run 288 kilometers inside Iraqi territory and 12 km inside Jordanian territory,” it added.
Zawati announced the agreement in a tweet on Sunday, describing it as an “important step that strengthens cooperation between the two brotherly countries.”
Iraq has long suffered from chronic power outages in a country where summer temperatures reach 50 degrees Celsius. Rampant electricity shortages are a rallying call for protestors, with summer demonstrations erupting annually in Iraq’s southern provinces demanding electricity to survive the heat. The deal with Jordan will supplement other agreements with Iran and Gulf states.
War, corruption, insecurity and lack of investment have all together contributed to a deteriorating grid, leaving Iraqis at times with just five hours of national electricity per day. Privately owned generators set up in neighborhoods try to supplement the lost hours, making Iraqis pay twice for electricity.
To make up for the shortage, Iraq has been importing electricity and natural gas to power its generation stations from neighboring Iran, much to the ire of Washington, which has imposed crippling economic sanctions on Tehran. Washington has granted Baghdad several waivers to continue imports of Iranian energy without penalty, but ultimately expects it to gradually reduce its reliance on Iranian gas and electricity imports.
The current waiver, Iraq’s tenth, issued this month, gives the country 60 days to continue its energy imports without financial penalties for the trade that has otherwise been banned by the US, after Washington withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal and began reimposing sanctions on Iran in November 2018.
Iran exports 1200-1500 megawatts of electricity to Iraq on a daily basis, in addition to 38 million cubic meters of natural gas to feed several of Iraq’s power stations, according to Sayyid Hamid Hosseini, secretary general of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce. In June, Baghdad and Tehran signed a two-year contract to continue the imports.
Iraq has also signed deals with German giant Siemens and American General Electric to overhaul its outdated grid. Baghdad has also met 80 percent of its obligations required in a deal to begin importing 500 megawatts of electricity from Gulf states.
The deal that was signed last year with the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) aims to increase the electricity supply in Iraq and push Baghdad to be less dependent on Iranian energy. Under the plan that has yet to be implemented, Iraq was slated to import 500 megawatts of electricity from Gulf countries on the payroll of the GCCIA before this summer. However, due to spread of the coronavirus and the global economic crisis, implementation has been delayed to next year.
