Iraq set to open huge solar plant in Karbala to battle electricity crisis

As the government attempts to address a widespread blackout that has resulted in the establishment of its first industrial-scale solar plant in Karbala’s vast desert region.

According to Iraqi media reports, the largest of its kind in Iraq will be officially opened on Sunday, allowing it to eventually produce up to 300 megawatts of electricity at peak.

In the al-Hur area of Karbala, which is southwest of Baghdad, tens of thousands of black panels are scattered in rows in a vast desert area that covers roughly 4, 000 dunams (1, 000 acres or 400 hectares).

Another project under construction in Babil province will have a capacity of 225 megawatts, according to Nasser Karim al-Sudani, head of the country’s prime minister’s office. Construction work on a 1, 000-megawatt project in Basra will also start soon.

قطاع الطاقة 🇮🇶 | الاول في العراق.. صحراء محافظة كربلاء المقدسة تكتسي بالألواح الشمسية مع تواصل مشروع انشاء محطة كهرباء للطاقة الشمسية ستولد 300 ميغاواط من الطاقة الكهربائية pic. twitter.com/ZTn9MwArat

The first in Iraq, of course. As the construction of a solar power plant, which will generate 300 megawatts of electricity, is progressing, the desert of the holy Karbala governorate is covered in solar panels.

The projects are a part of a larger plan to use large solar power plants to meet some of Iraq’s electricity needs to lessen the effects of gas emissions on the environment.

Iraq has solar projects with a combined capacity of 12,500 megawatts, according to deputy minister of electricity Adel Karim, who is in talks or is negotiating progress. The projects, excluding the semi-autonomous northern Kurdistan region of Iraq, have the potential to meet up to 20% of Iraq’s total electricity demand, according to the official.

Iraq continues to experience – as it has for decades – electricity shortages as a result of decades of war, corruption, and mismanagement, despite its vast oil and gas resources.

This summer, as scorching temperatures in some areas exceeded 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), the nation’s electricity consumption reached a peak of about 55, 000 megawatts.

Deputy minister Karim claimed that the nation is currently producing up to 28, 000 megawatts of electricity, including about 8, 000 megawatts of which are fed to Iraqi power plants by imported natural gas from neighboring Iran.

In an effort to pressure Tehran and stifle its revenue streams as a result of a standoff over Iran’s nuclear program and military capabilities, the Iranian supply chain has encountered numerous challenges over the years as well, particularly from unilateral sanctions imposed by the US.

Washington made the announcement in March that it would no longer impose sanctions on Iran, which required its 120-day renewal period. Iraq can now purchase Iranian natural gas to feed its power plants under a new waiver that the US has already in place.