FILES: Khor Mor gas field in Sulaymaniyah governorate, a key source of fuel for power plants across the Kurdistan Region
Kurdistan Region power hours to drop during monthlong Khor Mor maintenance
ERBIL — Electricity supply across the Kurdistan Region will be cut by several hours for a month starting Friday while Dana Gas carries out maintenance at the Khor Mor gas field, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Electricity said Thursday.
“We inform electricity subscribers that for a period of one month, from Oct. 2 to Nov. 2, Dana Gas will begin maintenance operations at the Khor Mor field, and as a result, electricity supply hours will decrease by several hours during the maintenance period,” the ministry said.
The ministry said it would coordinate with the Ministry of Natural Resources to limit the effect on supply, adding that maintenance at Khor Mor is carried out at this time every year because falling temperatures reduce demand.
Khor Mor underpins the KRG’s Runaki program, which supplies round-the-clock public electricity and has been phasing out the neighborhood diesel generators that households elsewhere in the country rely on to cover outages.
In a separate statement, the Ministry of Natural Resources said the maintenance would not affect household gas supplies. “We assure citizens that Dana Gas’ maintenance process, which will continue for one month, will in no way cause a reduction in household gas supplies,” it said.
Gas production currently stands at 640 million standard cubic feet per day and will fall to 520 million during the maintenance period, the ministry said. “The reduction in gas production is limited and will have no impact on household gas supplies,” it said.
The maintenance follows a supply disruption last month. The Electricity Ministry said Sept. 16 that reduced gas deliveries from Khor Mor had cut generation by about 1,000 megawatts. The next day, it said 1,400 MW had been restored to the grid over several hours after Dana Gas resumed deliveries to power stations.
Khor Mor, in the Chamchamal district of Sulaymaniyah governorate, is operated by Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum and pipes gas to power stations in Chamchamal, Bazian and Erbil. The companies say it fuels more than 80% of the Kurdistan Region’s electricity generation.