A Reality That Cannot Be Hidden Behind... Everything About The Secrets Of Electricity And Its “Chronic Disease” In Iraq
Baghdad today - Baghdad Every summer season, Iraqis get used to facing the deterioration and failure of the electrical sector in Iraq, and while the matter was often justified by the lack of fuel and the interruption of Iranian gas, the deterioration of supply this season compared to the previous season increased the “puzzle” about the secret behind the deterioration of electricity, especially since gas Iranian production continues and current production is greater than last year's production, but the level of processing has declined.
"Baghdad Today" interviewed the current Undersecretary of the Ministry of Electricity and the former Acting Minister of Electricity, Adel Karim, about the secrets behind the deterioration of electrical equipment, and his speech was not devoid of "pessimism", and the reality imposed by the language of numbers that cannot be escaped or hidden behind.
Karim said in an interview with "Baghdad Today", "There are many reasons behind the poor quality of electricity supply, the most prominent of which is our inability to keep up with the increasing demand," noting that "the improvement in the living conditions in Iraq has caused the demand to increase annually by two thousand megawatts."
He explains, "In the past, the Iraqis relied on refrigerants, which at best did not draw more than 3 to 4 amps, while currently, due to the improvement in the living condition, they rely on splitters and refrigeration devices that consume about 12 amps."
Karim adds, “Iraq’s current production amounts to more than 25,000 megawatts, while the demand this year amounts to 50,000 megawatts to provide Iraqis with electricity for 24 hours,” noting that “the shortage amounts to 25,000 megawatts, meaning that the demand is twice the production.” currently".
He talks about starting a very ambitious program represented by building thermal, combined and gas stations and repairing the stations that were damaged in the battles of the terrorist ISIS.
While all of these problems are not new, but rather old, Karim adds, regarding the direct cause behind the latest crisis during this summer, by saying: “It came because of the distribution networks, as the feeders began to operate beyond their capacity, as the feeder previously had a load of 5 megawatts. But due to urban development, expansion, and building construction, nutrients began to be unable to keep up with this expansion, and we now have major problems with these nutrients.”
In addition, he points out that “at the beginning of summer, many units and lines were disconnected due to high temperatures, and we had many of these problems.”
Regarding the impact of summer, Karim explains, “In the times of the spring and autumn equinox, our need ranges between 11 and 14 thousand megawatts only, but in the summer it jumps to 50 thousand megawatts.”
Karim does not blame the citizen alone for using “splits,” noting that “climate change plays a major role in the expansion of the use of air conditioning devices, as Iraq is the fifth country most affected by climate change around the world.”
The Undersecretary of the Ministry points out that the delay and non-approval of budgets in 2020 and 2022, and the absence of investment budgets, led to a delay in the Ministry’s plans to keep pace with demand and stopped many projects to increase production, in addition to the ISIS war, as the terrorist organization caused Iraq to lose approximately 6 thousand megabytes. Watts of production, but now work is underway in Baiji, Anbar, and the thermal stations in Mosul, Akkaz, and Kirkuk.”
Regarding the crisis of the fuel needed to operate the stations, which is gas, Karim explains that Iraq is a country rich in liquid fuel, so the trend is now towards building thermal stations, not gas, and in the coming years they will enter service, which contributes to production not being affected if the imported gas stops. LINK
