With a capacity of 100 megawatts, work has begun on a waste-to-energy plant project in Baghdad.
With a capacity of 100 megawatts, work has begun on a waste-to-energy plant project in Baghdad.
2025-03-20 06:31
Shafaq News/ Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani launched, today, Thursday, the executive work on the waste-to-energy generation plant project with a capacity of (100) megawatts in the Nahrawan area, southeast of the capital, Baghdad.
Al-Sudani’s media office said in a statement that the latter had launched the project “using high-efficiency incineration technology, as part of the government’s plans to transition to renewable energy.”
Iraq has suffered from a chronic electricity shortage for decades, due to the blockade and successive wars. For years, residents have protested the frequent power outages, especially during the summer, when temperatures sometimes reach 50 degrees Celsius.
Iraq is expected to face a hot summer and a decline in energy supplies, especially after the Trump administration revoked the waiver that allowed Iraq to pay Iran for electricity, as part of the current US administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.
For many years, Iraq has relied on importing electricity and gas from Iran, especially during the peak summer months. This relies on ongoing US waivers, which are issued multiple times each year.
In October 2024, Iraq signed an agreement with Turkmenistan to import gas in quantities of up to 20 million cubic meters per day via the Iranian pipeline network, using a swap mechanism to facilitate transportation. However, the agreement has not yet begun due to technical issues, the Ministry of Electricity recently announced.
Iraq is seeking alternative solutions to obtain gas to fuel its power plants, after the United States decided to end the exemption it had granted Baghdad to import this material from Iran.
Negotiations are currently underway with Algeria and Qatar to import liquefied gas to Iraq under contracts that may be medium-term (3-5 years), according to a source in the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity.
LNG imports will begin once Iraq completes the infrastructure at Khor al-Zubair port. This includes contracting for a floating offloading and storage platform and connecting it to a 40-kilometer pipeline that will transport the gas via a link to the national pipeline near the Shatt al-Basra River.
Iraq is also moving to double its electricity import capacity from Türkiye to secure the necessary supplies for its northern provinces.
The current capacity of the interconnection line between the two countries is approximately 300 megawatts, and Iraq aims to double this capacity to 600 megawatts next summer.
shafaq.com
