Kurdistan Region to erect new power stations to meet increasing demand

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Friday, the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Electricity announced a plan to erect several new power stations throughout the region to keep up with the increasing demand.

This is the first step in the government’s ambitious work program for enhancing and expanding Kurdistan’s electrical grid and production.  

The Kurdistan Region currently produces about 4,000 megawatts of electricity. 1,500 megawatts are produced in Erbil, the same in Sulaimani, and 1,000 megawatts in Duhok.

In general, Kurdish cities require more power than this, and demand reaches its peak with the high summer temperatures that may border 50 degrees Celsius.

The Ministry of Electricity said in a brief statement, "with the aim of controlling the high demand, we are continuing our efforts to operate several new electric stations."

The statement gave no further details.

In August 2021, the Ministry of Electricity indicated that the power demand had reached 5,000 megawatts. 

Last year, the production rate reached 3,500 megawatts, with the government providing electricity for up to 15 hours. In recent months, the region inaugurated several new power stations.

Power generation costs amount to $85 million per month, Ministry of Electricity spokesman Omid Ahmed said in an earlier statement.