KRG’s Runaki project returns to 24-hour power after blackouts

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Electricity in the Kurdistan Region has returned to normal, and the 24-hour power supply from the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) flagship Runaki project has also been restored, Erbil’s electricity ministry confirmed on Sunday.

In a statement, the ministry said “the Kurdistan Regional Government is pleased to announce that national electricity has returned to its normal state, and 24-hour power supply has also been restored for the Runaki project.”

The announcement comes days after the Region had been experiencing severe blackouts since Wednesday night’s attack on the Khor Mor gas field in the eastern Sulaimani province.

A liquid storage tank at the Khor Mor facility was struck, according to a statement from UAE-based Dana Gas - a joint operator and major shareholder in Pearl Petroleum, the consortium leading the development and production at the site.

Earlier in the day, the Region’s Electricity Minister Kamal Mohammed had told Rudaw, “By tonight, the situation will be back to normal and the Runaki Project and 24-hour electricity will return as it was.”

Runaki - “light” in Kurdish - is the KRG’s key project, which aims to provide uninterrupted electricity to residents across the Region. 

Ahead of the Wednesday attack, around four million people enjoyed the service.

Kurdish officials previously affirmed that the attack caused an estimated 80 percent drop in the Region’s electricity production.

Meanwhile, Iraq has lost around 1,200 megawatts of power due to the halt of gas supplies from Khor Mor, a senior official from Baghdad’s electricity ministry told Rudaw on Sunday, describing the outage as a direct consequence of Wednesday’s attack on the key gas field.

“We at the Iraqi electricity ministry have been affected by the interruption of energy supplies from the investment stations in the Kurdistan Region,” ministry spokesperson Ahmed Mousa said, adding that “the disruption is the result of the targeting of the Khor Mor gas field, which halted gas supplies and consequently led to the suspension of electricity generation from the stations located in the Region.”

Mousa told Rudaw that in the aftermath of the strike, Iraq’s nationwide electricity output stands at about 20,000 megawatts, down from the 27,500-megawatt capacity available before the attack.

The impact has been particularly felt in the provinces of Kirkuk, Nineveh and Salahaddin, he said, noting that the ministry maintains “high-level coordination” with the Kurdistan Region’s electricity authorities to mitigate the shortage.

At the same time, Mousa said that gas imports from Iran - on which Iraq heavily relies - were also brought to a complete halt late last week due to what Tehran described as pipeline maintenance. Iran is supposed to provide 35 million cubic meters of gas per day,

Iran was scheduled to resume gas supplies the same day, but has yet to do so.