SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iran has suspended electricity exports to Iraq, an official said on Tuesday, adding more pressure on a country that already suffers from power outage.
Mustafa Rajabi, the executive director of the Iranian electricity management company, said a surge in domestic demand was behind the suspension of electricity exports to Iraq.
“Our country’s need to electricity supplies caused a halt in exports to Iraq,” Rajabi said, according to Iranian media.
He further said current exports were estimated at 150 megawatts, down from nearly 2,000 megawatts recorded in August 2020.
The suspension of electricity exports to Iraq comes as the country is already suffering from power outage due to a surge in demands and attacks on pylons in several provinces.
The country buys gas and electricity from neighboring Iran to supply about a third of its power sector, which has been worn down by years of conflict and poor maintenance, and is unable to meet the needs of the country’s 40 million population.
Oil-rich Iraq produces just 16,000 megawatts of power – far below the 24,000 megawatts needed, and even further from the expected future needs of a country whose population is set to double by 2050, according to the U.N.
Last month, areas in the country’s south were plunged into darkness for several days after a series of similar attacks.
Around the same time, Iran briefly suspended its gas and electricity exports because of Iraq’s failure to pay a $6 billion energy debt.
The U.S. blacklisted Iran’s energy industry in late 2018 as it ramped up sanctions, but has granted Baghdad a series of temporary waivers, hoping that Iraq would wean itself off Iranian energy.
The failure of Iraq’s power system is particularly acute in the baking hot summer months, often a time of social protest exacerbated by electricity shortages, when temperatures shoot past 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).
