Iraq announces nationwide power outage amid ‘record' heat
The electricity ministry said the grid suffered a 'total outage' after the shutdown of two transmission lines amid a spike in consumption triggered by a 'record rise in temperatures,' with the heat reaching 48-50C in Baghdad and central and southern regions.
While households can still rely on private generators, the blackout comes as millions of Shiite Muslim pilgrims gather in the province of Karbala for a major religious commemoration, further straining demand, the ministry added.
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Arab News
9 hours ago
- Arab News
Iraq electricity gradually back after nationwide outage
BAGHDAD: Electricity supply returned to all Iraq's provinces on Tuesday, a government official told AFP, expecting the grid's full recovery within a day after a nationwide power shortages are a frequent complaint in Iraq, suffering from endemic corruption and dilapidated public households rely on private generators, acquired to compensate for daily power cuts to public Monday, the electricity ministry said that 'a record rise in temperatures' coupled with a surge in demand resulted in the shutdown of transmission lines, which then led to a total outage.A senior ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP on Tuesday that 'since midnight, all provinces have seen the return' of power official cautioned that 'it is happening gradually,' with the central province of Karbala, where millions of Shiite Muslim pilgrims were expected for a major religious commemoration, being 'the first to recover its electricity.'In the capital Baghdad, the grid was back to 95 percent of its normal capacity, said the outage came amid a heatwave that Iraqi meteorological services expect to last more than a week, with temperatures climbing as high as 50C in parts of the the vast majority of Iraqis rely on private generators, they often cannot power all household appliances, especially air is sometimes rocked by protests when outages worsen in the hot summer avoid outages during peak demand, Iraq would need to produce around 55,000 megawatts of month, for the first time, the country's power plants reached the 28,000-megawatt electricity ministry official said that 'the system has returned to normal and is stable,' producing 24,000 megawatts and expected to reach 27,000 once the final malfunctions related to Monday's outage are resolved.
Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
Iraq announces nationwide power outage amid ‘record' heat
BAGHDAD: Iraq on Monday announced a nationwide power outage as rising temperatures pushed demand on the electricity grid to unprecedented levels. The electricity ministry said the grid suffered a 'total outage' after the shutdown of two transmission lines amid a spike in consumption triggered by a 'record rise in temperatures,' with the heat reaching 48-50C in Baghdad and central and southern regions. While households can still rely on private generators, the blackout comes as millions of Shiite Muslim pilgrims gather in the province of Karbala for a major religious commemoration, further straining demand, the ministry added.
Asharq Al-Awsat
a day ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Report: Blackout Hits Central, Southern Iraq
Major oil producer Iraq began gradually restoring power on Monday, the state news agency reported citing the electricity ministry, after a power outage hit central and southern regions of the country. Electricity ministry sources had told Reuters earlier a sudden shutdown at the Hamidiya power plant in the western province of Anbar led to a fault in the electricity transmission network. The temperature in the capital Baghdad reached a high of 47 degrees Celsius on Monday. "An emergency power outage occurred this afternoon in the power transmission lines, causing widespread outages across the national electricity grid," Mohammed Nehme, electricity ministry undersecretary for production affairs, said in a statement later. "Our technical teams are currently working to address the fault and restore power. They have begun gradually restoring power, and service will be fully restored within the coming hours." The chair of Iraq's parliament energy committee said in a statement that the outage did not affect the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. Many Iraqis for years have relied on privately operated generators for power as government-provided electricity was only intermittently available. Some others have turned to solar power to help cover their electricity needs. The oil ministry could not immediately be reached for comment. The electricity ministry said it was working in "full emergency mode" to restore power, the state news agency reported. A member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, and one of the world's leading oil producers, Iraq has struggled to provide its citizens with energy since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. In the ensuing turmoil, under-investment and mismanagement have left the national grid unable to cope with demand. Hundreds of Iraqis protested in Baghdad in the summer of 2021, when power and water cuts gripped large parts of the country as temperatures exceeded 50 degrees Celsius. In March, US President Donald Trump's administration rescinded a waiver that had allowed Iraq to pay Iran for electricity, as part of Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran. Iraq is heavily dependent on Iranian natural gas imports to generate power.
