Kurdistan PM and US energy secretary discuss boosting energy investment
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani spoke by phone on Friday to US Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette about some of the effects the coronavirus is having on both nation's economies and the United States' ongoing support for, and cooperation with, the autonomous region of Iraq.
Their "productive conversation," as described by Barzani on a social media post, covered the prospect of "increasing energy investments and continued U.S. support for Iraq and Kurdistan, including unlocking international financial assistance," though he did not specify the exact nature of such assistance.
Brouillette answered the tweet with one of his own, which read, "Thank you for taking the time @masrour_barzani, I appreciated our conversation and look forward to enhancing the US-Kurdistan relationship as the world works to overcome the #COVID19 pandemic."
A KRG statement about the call added, “The Prime Minister expressed his condolences for those in the US who have died as a result of the coronavirus.”
The two first met in February at the 2020 Munich Security Conference, a yearly three-day forum where world leaders meet, according to its organizers, "to discuss diplomatic initiatives to address the world's most pressing security concerns."
Read More: PM Barzani meets US Secretaries of State, Energy in Munich
Their conversation focused on the further development of economic relations, especially as regards energy, according to a statement at the time from Barzani’s office.
As Brouilette tweeted after their meeting, “The US and KRG have ample opportunities to increase energy security in the region and have major US investment in the Kurdistan energy sector,” before adding, “Prime Minister @masrour_barzani shares our optimism for US-KRG energy opportunities.”
Though the ability of the Kurdistan Region to produce sufficient and reliable electricity for its population is far superior to the rest of Iraq, the KRG has had to supplement chronic power shortages with locally installed generators that are fuel-inefficient and not designed to handle high-wattage usage. This is especially obvious during the summer months when widespread air conditioner use stresses the already overtaxed grid.
The four provinces of the region have a total of nine power stations with a combined capacity of 2,700 MW at maximum output. However, demand growth has outpaced available supply, which has slacked for a number of reasons. Several power stations have also had their operations suspended at various times when gasoline supplies to the companies running them were irregular.
In October, the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Electricity announced it had installed 41,000 new "smart" metering units across the capital of Erbil as part of energy-efficiency efforts that began the previous year.
Read More: Kurdistan Region promotes energy efficiency by installing smart electricity meters
Ministry spokesperson Umed Mohammed told Kurdistan 24 that "installing new smart electricity meters is the only way to control the consumption of electricity efficiently."
He explained that, at the time, 292,000 users had already been surveyed and that the installation of the new meters would be completed by mid-2021 "which will reduce annual government expenses on electricity."
Editing by John J. Catherine