Iraq inches towards solar-powered future
By Salam FARAJ
Hazar Merd, Iraq (AFP) Nov 2, 2023
In a small village within the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan, photo voltaic panels adorn most houses, a part of a small however rising effort to harness the solar’s power in Iraq, the place electrical energy is scarce.
“Photo voltaic covers all our wants: the fridge, tv, air cooler, washer, vacuum cleaner,” stated Daniar Abdallah, 33, a resident of Hazar Merd who transformed to photo voltaic and hasn’t appeared again.
“It has helped us rather a lot,” stated the daddy of two, who spent $2,800 in 2018 to put in photovoltaic panels for his household residence.
Regardless of its huge oil wealth, Iraq struggles to supply sufficient electrical energy to its 43 million folks after many years of battle and sanctions, in addition to rampant corruption and crumbling infrastructure.
And although it’s blessed with extra sunshine than most different international locations, it has proved troublesome to wean Iraq’s financial system off fossil fuels – one of many themes of the upcoming COP28 local weather talks in Dubai.
Though it receives a 3rd of its power wants from neighbouring Iran, there are nonetheless each day energy cuts, which worsen within the sizzling summer time months when temperatures strategy 50 levels Celsius (120 Fahrenheit).
The tranquil silence of Hazar Merd is placing in a rustic the place the roar of enormous neighbourhood turbines used to supply back-up energy is ever-present.
“Earlier than, we had a generator that broke down on a regular basis” to beat energy cuts which may generally final 12 or 13 hours a day, stated Abdallah, who works as a soldier for native Kurdish forces.
A number of mates have swiftly adopted his instance and now 17 out of the 25 houses in his village boast photo voltaic panels.
– Fossil fuels dominate –
Nationwide, nevertheless, using solar energy stays scarce.
In close by Sulaymaniyah, the second-largest metropolis in northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish area, solely 500 out of the 600,000 households are geared up with photo voltaic panels, stated Sirwan Mahmud, a spokesman for the province’s electrical energy division.
Solar energy had seen “fast development”, he stated, after the area’s parliament adopted incentives in 2021 to compensate households for any extra electrical energy that they generate.
The area goals to construct three business solar energy vegetation with a complete capability of 75 megawatts (MW), he added.
However that will solely symbolize a small enhance to the 24,000 MW that Iraqi energy vegetation produce.
To finish energy outages, the nation would want to provide not less than 32,000 MW.
Regardless of its enormous potential, renewable power stays under-used in Iraq, although it experiences greater than 3,000 hours of daylight throughout the 8,760 hours in a yr.
“The worst photo voltaic website in Iraq has assets which might be nearly two-thirds greater than one of the best website in Germany,” stated Ali al-Saffar, local weather director on the New York-based Rockefeller Basis.
A latest World Financial institution report highlighted that greater than 98 % of Iraq’s electrical energy continues to be generated from fossil fuels.
Authorities say they purpose to harness inexperienced power to satisfy a 3rd of the nation’s wants by 2030. However regardless of a number of main initiatives being introduced with nice fanfare, that has but to materialise.
TotalEnergies says it hopes to ship “the primary section” of a 1,000 MW photo voltaic plant inside two years.
In 2021, Baghdad signed an settlement with the Emirati firm Masdar to construct 5 photo voltaic vegetation with a mixed capability of 1,000 MW.
– ‘Lack of photo voltaic tradition’ –
To encourage renewable power, Iraq’s Central Financial institution in 2022 introduced the allocation of $750 million in nearly zero-interest loans for people and personal corporations adopting solar energy.
However the initiative is “stalling as a result of an absence of cooperation from banks”, in keeping with Mohamed al-Duleimi, an skilled in renewable energies.
Iraq lacks a “photo voltaic tradition”, stated Ali al-Ameri, the chief director of Photo voltaic Power Universe, which installs photo voltaic infrastructure.
This yr, nevertheless, extra individuals are turning to photo voltaic, he stated, together with his firm putting in photovoltaic panels at a couple of dozen websites.
“Costs begin at $4,500 and may go as much as $6,000,” he stated.
Amongst his purchasers are lecturers and medical doctors, but additionally humanitarian businesses and farmers.
Since 2020, he has put in panels on 70 buildings, primarily homes, in Baghdad, the neighbouring province of Anbar and the south.
Regardless of the gradual progress, Iraq’s photo voltaic potential might be an “alternative to resolve as soon as and for all its persistent electrical energy shortages,” he added.
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