The last month has produced yet more drama in the never-ending saga of Iraq’s electricity sector. In December, Iran halted gas supplies to Iraq, causing peak generation to fall from 19GW to just 11GW. The result was that blackouts swept across the country.
According to an Iraqi electricity ministry spokesman, imported gas volumes fell from 50mn m³/d (1.77bn cfd) to just 5mn m³/d (177mn cfd) over the period. The former figure appears quite high – most estimates and official statements put Iranian gas exports to Iraq at around 750mn cfd – but either way the steep drop in gas supply forced a crippling drop in electricity generation which underlined the extent of Iraq’s dependency on its neighbor. (CONTINUED - 784 WORDS)
