- Iraq is adding solar energy to its installed grid capacity.
- The country plans to deploy three mega solar projects.
Iraq expects three major solar projects with a combined capacity of 2.75GW to be put into operation in 2025 despite obstacles to their grid connection. The head of the country’s Commission for controlling radioactive sources told the Iraqi News Agency on Tuesday.
The three initiatives include a 1GW contract with UAE’s renewable energy company Masdar, a pact with TotalEnergies SE for a 1GWp solar complex, and 750MW of solar capacity to be deployed by the Chinese state-owned government conglomerate Power Construction Corp of China (Power China).
Since the contracts for the three projects were signed last year, Iraq has taken steps to prepare for their implementation, such as site selection, the commission chairman Kamal Hussein Latif said. So far, Anbar in the west of the country and Basra and perhaps Muthanna in the south have been picked as they are considered promising regions for solar power.