Iraq turns to Turkey and Saudi Arabia to ease power shortages

Iraq plans to raise electricity imports from Turkey and connect its grid to Saudi Arabia as it seeks to address a power shortfall.

The electricity ministry put current supplies from Turkey at 600MW and said imports will rise to 2,000MW.

The plans follow the expiry of a 100MW supply agreement with Jordan and delays to a project to connect Iraq’s grid with Gulf oil producers through Kuwait. The project stalled after the US-Iran conflict began in February.

Ahmed Jiyad, a spokesman for Iraq’s electricity ministry, told the state news agency that the project to link Iraq’s grid with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) power network was nearly 98 percent complete. The link would supply Iraq with 500MW.

“We are now trying to resume negotiations with the Kuwaiti side to restart this vital project so we can push ahead with the power supply agreement,” he said.

Jiyad said Iraq had imported up to 100MW from Jordan and expected the two countries to renew the deal next summer.

“We have also entered talks with Saudi Arabia for a connection project. This will be completed within 24 months of an agreement being signed,” Jiyad said.

Further reading:

• Iraq to sign electricity supply deal with GCC
• Jordan to quadruple power supply to Iraq in August
• Iraq says gas supplies from Iran have been halted

Baghdad and Riyadh signed a memorandum of understanding for the scheme in 2022. It involves building a 435km transmission line from Arar in northern Saudi Arabia to Yusuflia near Baghdad, officials in both countries said.

A 114km transmission line connects Turkey’s grid to northern Iraq, where a substation serves the link.

Before the US-Iran conflict began, Iraq’s electricity ministry said it intended to sign an agreement with the GCC to import electricity once the grid link was complete and operational.

Iraq faced a power shortfall of 22GW at the end of 2025, after gas and electricity supplies declined over the previous two years.