Iraq launches nationwide solar plan to ease chronic power shortages

1/11/2025 7:08

Iraq's Electricity Minister Ziyad Ali Fadel on Friday announced a national plan to roll out large-scale solar energy projects across all provinces, aiming to integrate renewable power into the grid and ease the country's chronic electricity shortages.



The plan includes several multi-megawatt projects, starting with the 1,000 MW "Shams al-Basra" plant, a 450 MW project in Dhi Qar led by Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power, and another 1,000 MW facility in Najaf, the state-run Iraqi News Agency quoted Fadel as saying.



Additional projects are underway in Babylon and Karbala, with new facilities planned in Nineveh (500 MW), Anbar (400 MW) and the town of Balad in Salahuddin province.