Kadhimi opens power station in Dhi Qar as summer heats up
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi inaugurated a power station in Dhi Qar province’s Nasiriyah city on Saturday morning. The project will initially add 500 megawatts to the national grid as scorching summer temperatures arrive. Electricity shortages is one of many factors driving frequent protests.
The power station will “produce more electrical energy than its counterparts. At the same time, it protects the environment by using gases extracted, which were previously wasted,” Kadhimi said.
“At this stage, the station will provide 500 megawatts to the province and the national grid, and in the second phase, after completing the station, 250 megawatts will be added by taking advantage of the gases generated from the current stage as a source of power generation, instead of fuel,” he added.
A power station was opened in Muthana province last month and another will be inaugurated in Samarra province soon, Kadhimi said. These new plants should help solve Iraq’s electricity problems “once and for all,” he said.
Iraq has suffered from electricity shortages for nearly two decades. It is heavily dependent on natural gas imports from neighboring countries like Iran, but has failed to make regular payments to Tehran, leading to supply cuts.
Power shortages have sometimes led to nationwide protests, which have turned violent.
On April 28, electricity ministry spokesperson Ahmed Mousa said that Iraq needs 50 million cubic meters of gas per day in winter, and 70 million per day in the summer, to cope with the increase in demand for electricity, according to the state-owned Iraqi News Agency.
Iraq is one of the worst countries for gas flaring and could solve its electricity problems if it captured even less than half of the gas it now burns off, an official at GE said last year. “In Iraq, if we capture 30 percent to 40 percent of the gas flaring that is being done, we can deliver over 3.5 GW of power that otherwise wouldn’t be there with the resources available in the country,” said Joe Anis, CEO for the Middle East at GE Gas Power.
While in Nasiriyah, Kadhimi also opened a teaching hospital alongside a woman whose son died in anti-government protests, and a bridge.
The power station will “produce more electrical energy than its counterparts. At the same time, it protects the environment by using gases extracted, which were previously wasted,” Kadhimi said.
“At this stage, the station will provide 500 megawatts to the province and the national grid, and in the second phase, after completing the station, 250 megawatts will be added by taking advantage of the gases generated from the current stage as a source of power generation, instead of fuel,” he added.
A power station was opened in Muthana province last month and another will be inaugurated in Samarra province soon, Kadhimi said. These new plants should help solve Iraq’s electricity problems “once and for all,” he said.
Iraq has suffered from electricity shortages for nearly two decades. It is heavily dependent on natural gas imports from neighboring countries like Iran, but has failed to make regular payments to Tehran, leading to supply cuts.
Power shortages have sometimes led to nationwide protests, which have turned violent.
On April 28, electricity ministry spokesperson Ahmed Mousa said that Iraq needs 50 million cubic meters of gas per day in winter, and 70 million per day in the summer, to cope with the increase in demand for electricity, according to the state-owned Iraqi News Agency.
Iraq is one of the worst countries for gas flaring and could solve its electricity problems if it captured even less than half of the gas it now burns off, an official at GE said last year. “In Iraq, if we capture 30 percent to 40 percent of the gas flaring that is being done, we can deliver over 3.5 GW of power that otherwise wouldn’t be there with the resources available in the country,” said Joe Anis, CEO for the Middle East at GE Gas Power.
While in Nasiriyah, Kadhimi also opened a teaching hospital alongside a woman whose son died in anti-government protests, and a bridge.