Electricity minister and MPs begin planning for summer 2027 as power crisis persists

BAGHDAD — Electricity Minister Ali Saadi Wahib met parliament’s Electricity and Energy Committee on Monday to review this summer’s failures and start preparing for 2027, the ministry said.

They discussed the technical and operational problems during peak demand, maintenance and rehabilitation plans for generating plants and the transmission and distribution networks, and ministry plans to raise generation and reduce losses, agreeing to hold periodic meetings.

Generation has fallen to about 21,000 MW against demand the ministry put at 55,000 to 60,000 MW in April, when it aimed to reach 30,000 at peak. Plants rely on imported Iranian gas for 33% to 40% of output and deliveries dropped sharply after attacks on Iran’s South Pars field. The ministry said this month that 600 MW from Turkey and 300 from Jordan had begun flowing, four days after the minister told parliament that none of the interconnections was running.

Former ministry spokesperson Ahmed Mousa al-Abadi has said 55% to 59% of generated power is lost before reaching consumers through transmission and distribution failures, arguing that fixing distribution should come first. Protests spread this summer, with at least 52 security personnel wounded in clashes in Kut on Aug. 10 and dozens of protesters also believed hurt, and demonstrations in Basra, Najaf and Wasit over supply hours.