8,000 MW threat: Iraq faces looming summer blackouts
Shafaq News/ Iraq could lose 8,000 megawatts of electricity due to the halt in Iranian gas supplies, posing a major challenge to the country's power grid, a senior parliamentary official warned on Sunday.
Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Electricity Committee, Walid Al-Sahlani, told Shafaq News that Iraq relies on 1,800 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of Iranian gas. "The loss of this supply will significantly impact gas-powered stations and cripple the national grid," he said.
The Iraqi government is actively engaging through diplomatic channels, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to secure a US exemption allowing the resumption of Iranian gas imports, Al-Sahlani added. However, he stressed that the core issue is not the import itself but Iraq's inability to settle payments owed to Tehran, which must be resolved to avoid a summer energy crisis.
Earlier today, Parliament's Finance Committee Chairman, Atwan Al-Atwani, delivered an urgent message to the US government, warning that halting Iranian gas imports could lead to a collapse of Iraq's power network in the coming summer.
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