Iraq lastly went forward with the nation’s first large-scale solar energy plant. The authorities in Baghdad is stepping up efforts to undertake a extra sustainable vitality coverage that features integrating renewable vitality will increase and decreasing fuel flaring from oil operations.
French vitality main TotalEnergies will construct a 1-gigawatt solar energy plant in Iraq as a part of a cluster of contracts it awarded in 2021 for an built-in venture that requires a complete funding of $27 billion over 30 years. Other contracts are for the event of the Ratawi oil and fuel area and the development of a fuel hub to deal with flared fuel from a variety of southern oil fields. The contracts additionally cowl a water consumption venture for the injection of oil reservoirs.
Utility-scale solar energy venture
The solar energy plant is the primary utility-scale solar energy venture in Iraq. While the nation has a number of different photo voltaic plans within the pipeline, the TotalEnergies venture is the primary to maneuver into the implementation section.
In April, the French firm introduced on its social media feed that it had signed land and interconnection contracts for the Ratawi photo voltaic plant. It consists of the development of a 180-km overhead transmission line to hook up with electrical energy in Basrah and the set up of a substation.
TotalEnergies stated the plant shall be “one of many largest clear solar energy vegetation within the Middle East and North Africa area.” The facility will present clear electrical energy equal to powering 350,000 properties. The plant ought to be accomplished by 2025 in 4 levels.
Political stability boosts vitality initiatives
These initiatives are actually progressing largely as a result of Iraq is experiencing a rare interval of political stability, which has allowed the federal government of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Sudani to proceed with many delayed vitality initiatives.
Iraq’s insufficient electrical energy provide is a drag on financial growth and a supply of social instability. The downside worsened because the electrical energy provide couldn’t meet the rising demand because of the fast enhance in inhabitants. To fill the shortfall, Iraqis have to make use of personal mills that are costly and trigger air pollution.
According to the specialised publication Iraq Oil Report, citing a senior official of the Electricity Ministry, the present demand for electrical energy in Iraq is 15 gigawatts, which exceeds the availability of 14 gigawatts. The hole is wider throughout the peak summer time months, when demand can rise to 42 gigawatts towards the availability of 25 gigawatts, forcing Iraq to import fuel and electrical energy from Iran. However, provides are sometimes erratic or interrupted throughout peak demand in Iran.
In October 2023, Sudani introduced a goal to fulfill a 3rd of Iraq’s electrical energy wants from renewable vitality sources by 2030. Based on present demand developments, this can require the event of almost 18 gigawatts of renewable vitality capability. However, Iraq has a protracted technique to go earlier than it reaches the goal. According to the most recent statistics of the International Renewable Energy Agency, it’s going to solely have 1,599 megawatts of renewable vitality capability by the tip of 2023.
Unleashing Iraq’s photo voltaic potential
Iraq has plentiful untapped photo voltaic assets that might enable it to fulfill the goal and scale back dependence on electrical energy imports. In addition, the price of electrical energy powered by photo voltaic vitality is decrease than oil or gas-fired vitality.
Iraq’s photo voltaic plans introduced in November 2021 name for including 12 gigawatts of photo voltaic capability by 2030. About 7.5 gigawatts of deliberate photo voltaic capability will come from utility-scale photo voltaic vegetation, and Iraq has achieved ot the agreements with builders – at completely different levels – for initiatives that may add 4.5 gigawatts in complete. Currently, solely 2.3 gigawatts have been authorized and are prepared to maneuver to the development section, whereas others are nonetheless pending.
In addition to the TotalEnergies photo voltaic venture, different plans embody a two-stage 750-megawatt plant in Muthanna province to be delivered by Chinese state agency PowerChina. In addition, a consortium led by Iraq’s Al-Bilal Group will ship two initiatives, totaling 525 megawatts.
Baghdad’s 2021 up to date nationally decided contribution submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is dominated by vitality sector targets. Iraq’s purpose is to cut back greenhouse fuel emissions by 15 p.c by 2030. Achieving 13 p.c is conditional on Iraq receiving $100 billion in financing from buyers and monetary establishments.
Despite roughly $81 billion spent on the electrical energy sector since 2003, frequent blackouts happen as a result of Iraq’s poor electrical energy system. By the summer time of 2023, the hole between peak electrical energy provide and demand widened to 13 gigawatts, in response to the MEES report.
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Commitments and challenges
On paper, Iraq’s nameplate, or put in, electrical energy capability of round 39 gigawatts ought to be sufficient to cowl demand. However, since most energy vegetation are actually gas-fired, Iraq is struggling to acquire feedstock. Iraq produces 3 billion cubic ft of pure fuel per day, nearly all of which comes below oil manufacturing. Due to inadequate infrastructure, nearly half of the fuel is burned within the environment, resulting in fuel shortages and releasing an estimated 36 million tons of CO2 yearly.
What hinders additional progress in creating photo voltaic potential in Iraq is the absence of clear laws, entry to inexperienced finance, and the poor situation of transmission networks, which make it troublesome to combine intermittent renewable energy with out enough funding.
Iraq depends closely on the sale of crude oil for its finances, making it susceptible to cost volatility. Low oil costs harm Iraq’s finances. The growth of different vitality sources can scale back its vitality import invoice and create a extra sustainable inexperienced economic system that advantages the setting and social well-being.
About Kate Dourian
Kate Dourian is a non-resident fellow on the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. He can be a fellow on the Energy Institute. Previously, he was the regional supervisor for the Middle East and Gulf states of the World Energy Council. Dourian joins the IEA from the Middle East Economic Survey the place he was a senior editor. He can be chargeable for compiling the month-to-month OPEC survey for MEES. From 2000-13, Dourian was the editor-in-chief for the Middle East for the oil worth reporting company Platts.
Dourian is a speaker and moderator at worldwide conferences and has made quite a few radio and tv appearances, discussing vitality and geopolitics on a number of platforms in English, Arabic, and French.
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