Iraq signs agreement to connect into Gulf power grid

• 4 years ago (2019-09-16)
• David Flin

Middle East 310 Transmission 181

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Iraq has signed a deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for a transmission line that would import up to 500 MW to its overstretched grid by 2020. The 300 km transmission line will run from Kuwait to Iraq’s southern port of Faw. Construction will be financed by the GCC. Supply in Iraq is currently around 9 GW below the demand of 24 GW.

Luay Al-Khatteeb, Iraq’s Electricity Minister, said: “This is the first deal of its kind with GCC.” He said that the line from GCC could be further developed to contribute as much as 2 GW to the grid. He added that Iraq was also in separate talks with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Turkey to import electricity.

GCC said that construction of the line would cost $220 million, and a separate agreement would be required for the actual imports.

Baghdad is looking to boost diplomatic ties with Arab neighbours, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, while maintaining good relations with Iran. Iraq partly fills its power shortages by importing both electricity and natural gas from Iran. Iraq has been granted a series of waivers from USA to keep importing electricity from Iran, despite US sanctions on Iran. The latest exemption expires in mid-October.

The deal follows the signing of a $1.3 billion agreement with Siemens for the repair of war-damaged power plants in the northern city of Baiji.