Electrical interconnection with Jordan to start in few days
Electricity transmission towers. Photo: Al-Arabiya News
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The operation of the first phase of the electrical interconnection between Iraq and Jordan will start in the coming days, after the two sides have completed all the necessary work to start energy exchange.
The mayor of the Al-Rutba district in the western Iraqi governorate of Anbar, Imad Mishaal Al-Dulaimi, announced on Monday the completion of the electrical connection work with Jordan, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
Al-Dulaimi said that the Iraqi side is technically ready to receive electricity from Jordan after building the required stations and installing the electrical wires linking the Al-Rutba station with the regional grid.
The Iraqi official added that electricity supply from Jordan to the Al-Rutba district will start at the end of August, indicating that the project will end the electricity outages the area has been suffering from for several years.
Iraq is working on several electrical interconnection projects with neighboring countries, primarily Jordan and the Gulf states, in order to meet its needs for electric power in light of a shortage of 13,000 megawatts.
The Iraqi Minister of Electricity, Ziyad Ali Fadel, explained last June that the second stage of the electricity project will be between Egypt and Jordan; thus, all three countries will be electrically interconnected in one network.
Fadel also clarified that the ministry had prepared a plan to produce 11,500 megawatts during the next phase.
Iraq produces about 23,000 megawatts of electricity, while the country needs about 35,000 megawatts to secure electric power around the clock.