US report: Iraq is heading towards the Gulf to break Iran's monopoly on electricity

[size=52]US report: Iraq is heading towards the Gulf to break Iran's monopoly on electricity[/size]

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The American “Al-Monitor” website tackled the complexities of the issue of energy and electricity sources in Iraq, and concluded that what Iraq is facing through the decrease in electricity supplies from Iran, may push Baghdad, despite the difficulties and challenges, to try to make plans to connect the country with the Gulf, electrically successful.[/size]

[size=45]At the outset, the American report mentioned that the Iraqi government signed a memorandum of understanding on January 25, aimed at linking its electrical network with the Saudi network, which is an end to the monopoly on energy supplies from Iran.[/size]

[size=45]The report indicated that Iraq relies heavily at the present time on Iran to obtain electricity and fuel for its power stations, adding that Iran has recently been unable to secure the quantities agreed upon between the two parties.[/size]

[size=45]He pointed out that Iran was scheduled to export between 35 and 50 million cubic meters of gas, but it has only provided 8 million at the moment, while the 1500 megawatts of electricity specified for export to Iraq fell to 200 megawatts recently, which is What caused a major power outage for Iraqi consumers.[/size]

[size=45]The report explained that the majority of power plants in Iraq use gas generators, and for this, the deduction of gas quantities, affects electricity as well.[/size]

[size=45]He continued, "Iraq was seeking to find alternatives through the Gulf or Jordan and Egypt, but none of that has been completed."[/size]

[size=45]During the Iraq-Saudi Trade Forum in Riyadh last January 24, the Secretary of the Iraqi Council of Ministers, Hamid Al-Ghazi, said that "the two countries are working on many issues, including linking electricity networks and developing industrial cities."[/size]

[size=45]The report pointed out that these statements came hours after the Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi announced that the previous Iraqi governments are responsible for the electricity crises in the country.[/size]

[size=45]The report continued that the following day, Iraqi and Saudi officials were able to agree on a memorandum stipulating the interconnection of the two electricity networks in the two countries, signed by the Saudi Minister of Energy, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, and Al-Ghazi by the Iraqi side, accompanied by the Iraqi Ministers of Oil and Electricity Ihsan Abdel Jabbar and Adel Karim.[/size]

[size=45]According to bin Salman, the memorandum is in line with the Kingdom's vision for 2030, while Iraqi Minister Adel Karim said that connecting the network will be completed within two years.[/size]

[size=45]The report added that the Saudi-Iraqi move sparked severe criticism, as one of the leaders of the Al-Fateh coalition, Uday Al-Khadran, described this link as a waste of Iraqi money, not economically feasible and politically harmful, adding that the project will provide Iraq with 500 megawatts of electricity, which is not even enough for Baghdad itself. powered.[/size]

[size=45]Iraqi MP Ali Shaddad criticized even before signing the Saudi-Iraqi memorandum, calling on the Iraqi government to “disclose the details of the electricity connection contract between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and also disclose the agreements previously signed in the field of energy with the Gulf states, Turkey and even Jordan.”[/size]

[size=45]For his part, Representative Faleh Al-Khazali spoke about having evidence of the government’s failure to manage the electricity file, noting that the price of electricity from Saudi Arabia will range between 8.8 and 11.8 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is much more than the four cents that Iran provides at the present time to Iraq. .[/size]

[size=45]After the report pointed out that most of the criticism is issued by forces close to Iran, he mentioned reports that last May indicated an attempt by Iran to prevent Iraq from electrically linking to the Gulf, and that “Sky News” channel talked about Iranian officials who offered to sell electricity at a price. Reduced to Iraq with the aim of stopping the Iraqi link project with the Gulf.[/size]

[size=45]He added that Iraq resorted to neighboring countries because of the frequent interruptions in electricity and gas exports from Iran, noting that on August 10 last, Iran completely cut off electricity exports to Iraq due to the high temperature at the time.[/size]

[size=45]A month earlier, the Iraqi Minister of Electricity, Majid Hantoush, submitted his resignation due to another halt in Iran's electricity exports, resulting from Baghdad's inability to transfer funds to Iran.[/size]

[size=45]The report quoted the former Secretary-General of the Iranian-Iraqi Joint Chamber of Commerce, Mahdi Moghadam, an energy economist, as saying that Iraq, like other countries, prefers to buy energy sources from several different vendors, due to the severe sanctions imposed on Tehran.[/size]

[size=45]The report concluded by noting that linking the Iraqi network to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not an easy matter, as there are currently no transmission lines between the two countries, and according to the energy expert Bilal Al Khalifa, Iraq is obliged to pay a lot of money in order to extend these lines.[/size]

[size=45]In addition, the lines of this network must pass through uninhabited lands, which makes it vulnerable to terrorist attacks, and the length of the transmission lines also causes the loss and loss of a lot of energy transferred to Iraq.[/size]

[size=45]The report added that Iraq is also looking for other options, such as importing gas from Qatar to feed its own power plants, or reaching a tripartite arrangement, with Turkmenistan and Iran.[/size]

[size=45]The US report concluded by saying that the electricity problem in Iraq is likely to continue as long as it does not have a comprehensive plan to boost production or to develop the network, which wastes up to 35% of the electricity.[/size]

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