Iraq says Saudi power deal will cost a quarter of Iran’s price
Deal including solar power plant hoped to restore continuity of supply
Iraq stopped buying electricity from Iran this month, weakening supply to the extent that it had to introduce rolling power cuts
Saudi Arabia has agreed to build a solar power plant and sell electricity to Iraq at a steep discount compared to what Baghdad used to pay Iran.
The deal, which has yet to be approved by Iraqi authorities, includes a 3,000-megawatt plant in Saudi Arabia within a year of the agreement, Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity spokesman Mussab Serri said.
Iraq will buy the electricity for $21 (Dh77) a megawatt-hour, or a quarter of what it paid Iran for the imports, Mr Serri said.
Protests have erupted in Iraq this month, spurred by anger over unemployment and inadequate public services – including power and water shortages.
Iraq halted purchases of electricity from Iran this month, markedly weakening supply to an extent that it had to introduce rolling power cuts.
Power shortages coupled with scorching summer temperatures have worsened the widespread discontent, sparking deadly demonstrations. Fourteen people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the past three weeks.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi suspended Electricity Minister Qassim Fahdawi on Sunday while the government investigates why the power service is poor.
Two weeks ago, Iraq formed a committee to come up with plans to address protesters’ concerns, and allocated 3.5 trillion dinars (Dh11billion) to support services that would address the issues.
Since the toppling of dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iraq has allocated a total of US$40bn to rebuild its power network, official figures show.
But much of that has been siphoned off by politicians and businessmen in a country listed by Transparency International as the world’s 12th-most corrupt state.
Protesters are also angry about unemployment, state mismanagement and a lack of clean water. Stagnant water with sewage has caused health problems and tap water is sometimes contaminated.
Southern Iraq in particular has been suffering through a punishing drought, with desperate cattle breeders forced to sell animals in order to keep remaining stock alive.
Local authorities estimate that about 30 per cent of cattle across the south of the country have been lost during the drought, either dying from thirst or sold for slaughter.
That is a major blow for the estimated 475,000 families who make their livings from livestock across the south ofwar-ravaged Iraq.
Herder Ali, 24, understands the challenges only too well. He has to travel ever greater distances with his flock to find water.
Around him, canals have run dry and the cracked earth, empty water pipes and dead grass testify to how few options farmers now have.
To quench the thirst of their animals they have to pay, and the price of water has shot up, he told Agence France-Presse. This year rain has been particularly scarce and reservoirs are only 10 per cent full.
“Never in its history has Iraq known such a catastrophe,” said Ahmed Al Issawi, head of the agricultural co-operative in Najaf. “Our animals are forced to drink water where even mosquitos can’t survive.”
The drought has seen other problems increase, including disease, worms and epidemics.
Animals “contaminate each other very quickly and die”, Mr Al Issawi said.
The Mesopotamian Marshes, one of the biggest wetlands in the region, have long been regarded as one of the jewels of southern Iraq. But now they no longer help guarantee an income for those who live there, meaning people have already started to move away, and more look set to follow.
“There will be an exodus,” Mr Issawi said.