Latest news with #MohammedNehme


Iraqi News
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Iraqi News
Iraq restores power after outage affected central, southern areas
Baghdad ( – Iraq started restoring electricity slowly on Monday following a power outage that affected the country's central and southern areas. Officials in the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity told Reuters that an unexpected failure at the Hamidiya power plant in the western Iraqi province of Anbar caused a problem in the electricity transmission network. The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Electricity for Production Affairs, Mohammed Nehme, said that an unexpected power outage took place in the afternoon in the power transmission lines, resulting in broad outages across the national electrical system. Nehme explained that technical teams are working to resolve the issue and restore electricity, and service will be fully restored within a few hours. Many Iraqis have long relied on privately owned generators for power since the electricity provided by the Iraqi government is hardly accessible. A few others have started using solar energy to meet their electrical demands. According to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), the Ministry of Electricity is working in full emergency settings to restore power. Iraq has been trying to deliver power to its residents since the 2003 US-led war that ousted Saddam Hussein. In the subsequent chaos, lack of investment and inefficiency made the national grid unable to meet demand. Hundreds of Iraqis protested in Baghdad in the summer of 2021, when power and water outages plagued most of the country as temperatures soared to 50 degrees Celsius.

Straits Times
18 hours ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Blackout hits central, southern Iraq, sources say
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox BAGHDAD - 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. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. World Trump seizes control of Washington police, deploys National Guard Business Lower-wage retail workers to receive up to 6% pay bump from Sept 1 Singapore Keppel to sell M1's telco business to Simba for $1.43b, says deal expected to benefit consumers Singapore ST Explains: Who owns Simba, the company that is buying M1? Singapore Telco price undercutting expected to subside after sale of M1 to Simba: Analysts Singapore ST Explains: What is Vers and which HDB estates could it be rolled out in? Singapore For Vers to work, compensation should account for varied needs of HDB flat owners: Observers Singapore At least $2m lost in S'pore to govt official impersonation scams involving cryptocurrency in Q1 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 U.S.-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, U.S. 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. REUTERS


Asharq Al-Awsat
18 hours ago
- Business
- 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.