Electricity: We have been working without a budget for two years... and we depend on grants and tax

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[size=52]Electricity: We have been working without a budget for two years... and we depend on grants and tax collection[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad/ Firas Adnan[/size]
[size=45]The Ministry of Electricity reported that it has been working without an investment budget for two years, pointing to its reliance on government grants and collection funds in the conduct of its affairs. It also talked about problems it suffers from, most notably the declared war on power transmission towers through a series of terrorist targets in a number of governorates.[/size]
[size=45]The ministry's spokesman, Ahmed Musa, said, "The electricity file in Iraq involves many problems that were supposed to be addressed."[/size]
[size=45]Moussa added, "The ministry was keen to address these problems successively, because we are facing a vital file that has a continuous increase in demand and is exposed to many targets and suffers from high temperatures and technical symptoms."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out, "The ministry's plan began a year ago and it was presented to the cabinet in Jinha and won its approval and great support."[/size]
[size=45]Moussa pointed out that "the plan included an increase of 7,000 megawatts within one year, with the introduction of strategic transmission lines, rehabilitation and support for the distribution sector."[/size]
[size=45]He stressed, "We have proceeded with these details, and we have succeeded in adding 4,000 megawatts and we have succeeded in introducing strategic transmission lines that have been out of order since 2013."[/size]
[size=45]He explained, "These lines are the western Baghdad-Haditha transport line, the Khairat-Qadisiyah line, the Wasit-Southern-Baghdad line, and Diyala-Baquba," and he spoke at the same time about "many lines that were broken and destroyed that were brought into work by the efforts of the ministry's staff."[/size]
[size=45]And Moussa indicated, "The endeavors in the distribution sector included changing the capacity of transformers, creating feeders, and installing fixed and mobile stations."[/size]
[size=45]The presence of “many successes,” acknowledging that “these efforts did not keep pace with the current demand, and the reason for not covering the entire day’s processing hours is because the ministry has been working without an investment budget for two years.”[/size]
[size=45]Moussa explained, "The ministry announces it frankly, it does not have budgets, and it is currently working with what comes to it from the collection funds that cover salaries, projects and grants it received from the Council of Ministers, and all that we are working on without investment budgets at all."[/size]
[size=45]He stated, "The ministry is obligated to pay the expenses of gas supplied from the Iranian side, as well as the expenses of the investors who work with it, and this is accompanied by an increase in demand with the networks exposed to terrorist operations from time to time."[/size]
[size=45]Moussa stressed, "The energy towers began to be exposed to a declared war that included the governorates of Kirkuk, Salah al-Din and Basra, which witnessed the targeting and striking of transmission lines." He continues, "Our endeavors were able to launch periodic and emergency maintenance with the introduction of transmission lines that achieve availability and support the distribution sector with certain parts."[/size]
[size=45]Moussa continues, "The financial problems did not discourage the ministry from performing its tasks, and there is a clear and tangible improvement for the citizen regarding what we have worked on, as well as efforts related to solar energy and electrical connectivity with neighboring countries, and these projects are hoped to add to the national system new energies and high reliability." .[/size]
[size=45]He finds that the failure to approve budgets disrupted many of the joints of the plan, which was aimed at developing radical solutions. Moussa added, “The ministry is also suffering from the large spread of slums and the transformation of agricultural areas into residential areas. These have in general doubled the loads on the electrical network, with uncalculated loads that we did not know about, either from the municipal departments or the local administrations.” For his part, a member of the Parliamentary Energy Committee, inside Radi, said in a statement to Al-Mada that "the current production of electricity has reached 20,000 megawatts."[/size]
[size=45]Radi added, "Iraq is facing a problem related to increased consumption and lack of rationalization with the rise in temperatures, which reached more than 51 in some areas."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out, "Technical problems in the ministry, which are not limited to production, but in the distribution and transportation sectors, in addition to violations of the electrical network."[/size]
[size=45]Radi explained, "The situation in this summer is generally better than in previous years, especially since the Ministry of Electricity was ready early in maintaining the stations, adding new transmission lines and transformers with new capabilities and relieving the bottleneck."[/size]
[size=45]While Radi confirmed, “The procedures are not without some problems that the ministry must address,” stressing that “the current production reaches all regions, but to varying degrees, as Basra is cut from the programmed pieces.” The scourge of corruption that afflicts state institutions is one of the reasons for the continuation of the energy crisis, in addition to the networks’ exposure to actual problems outside the control of the state, including the low levels of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the suspension of some power stations in dams, and terrorist operations against electricity transmission towers from time to time. In addition to the continuing growing demand for the current at an annual rate of about two thousand megawatts.[/size]
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