Iraq investing $680 million in renewable energy projects

Iraq authorities have approved an expenditure of one trillion Iraqi dinars or $680 million for the expansion and development for renewable power projects in order to reduce the dependence of imported power and enhance the use of RE in the country.

The Central Bank of Iraq had planned to allocate the funds for solar power projects in 2021 and the projects were even awarded to many foreign players. Ihsan Al-Yasiri, Central Bank Deputy Governor, “In 2021, we launched a renewable energy initiative to support the sector…this initiative involved the allocation of one trillion dinars for solar power projects.” Yasiri also maintained that the RE expansion is also aimed at supporting the environment and tackling power shortages in the country.

Suha Al-Najjar, who is heading the prestigious National Investment Commission had also said that the solar power projects awarded to foreign companies in the last few months are expected to generate more than 7.5 GW of electricity.

She held, “We urge local and global companies to take advantage of the Central Bank initiative in the construction of more solar power projects in Iraq.”

Iraq and its dependence on electricity imports

A large part of Iraq’s electricity shortage is met by imports from Iran. The country is also planning to get electricity supplies from other Gulf countries by connecting with the common electricity grid. The key reason for Iran’s heavy reliance on Iran is that the long spell of wars has devastated its energy sector.

In August, 2021, Iraq entered into an agreement with PowerChina for the development of 2GW solar power projects in a quest to reduce its power dependence on Iran, as informed by the Prime Minister office of Iraq. Subsequently, plans were being formulated to increase the role of renewable sources of energy to increase their share in energy mix to at least 33 per cent.

Recently, Iraq held that it will be awarding more solar power projects to amplify the total renewable energy production to 10 GW by the end of this decade.