Report: Iraq looks for new offer from Saudi Arabia for electricity supplies

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Saudi Arabia has agreed to sell electricity to Iraq at a discounted rate from a solar power plant that the Kingdom is planning to build, US-based Bloomberg reported on Monday.

The report cited an Iraqi official who claimed Saudi Arabia had agreed to build a solar power plant in the country and sell the electricity at a steep discount to war-torn Iraq.

Mussab Serr, the spokesperson of the Iraqi Electricity Ministry who Bloomberg quoted, said the Iraqi government has not yet approved the Saudi offer, stating the “deal will include building a 3,000-megawatt power plant in Saudi Arabia within a year of the signing the agreement.”

The spokesperson added that Iraq would buy Saudi’s electricity supplies for 21 USD per megawatt/hour, which is a quarter of what Baghdad paid Iran for imported power supplies.

Hours after the report was published, the Ministry of Electricity released a statement on its website denying the details mentioned by Bloomberg.

“The Ministry’s spokesperson denies that he had discussed the details of an agreement with Saudi Arabia, as the information mentioned in the report is false,” it said.

The Saudi Arabian side, meanwhile, has yet to release any statement on the matter.

Last week, US-based al-Hurra Iraq reported that Baghdad had postponed a ministerial delegation visit to Saudi Arabia to discuss energy cooperation due to pressure from Iran.

Planning Minister Salman Aljumaili led the delegation which included Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi, Electricity Minister Qasim al-Fahdawi, and Minister of Transport Kadhim al-Hammami.

In early July, Iran cut electricity supplies to Iraq due to unpaid bills. The Iranian move has exacerbated the country’s electricity crisis creating widespread anger and demonstrations across several provinces in southern Iraq.

As a result, the Ministry has set up an alternative plan to import power supplies.

“The Prime Minister of Iraq ordered [Fahdawi] to visit Riyadh to strike a joint deal after days of public unrest across southern cities in the country over poor services,” al-Arabiya news outlet reported on July 16.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany