Iraq was plunged right into a nationwide blackout earlier this week, as a temperature surge to 122 levels Fahrenheit (50° Celsius) — and subsequent spiking demand for electrical energy — pushed the nation’s faltering energy grid to the breaking level. Power was restored a day later, authorities officers stated Tuesday. For a rustic that has seen as a lot battle and instability as Iraq, this might come as unsurprising – apart from the proven fact that the nation is OPEC’s second-largest oil producer and has the world’s fifth-largest confirmed oil reserves. Scores of worldwide vitality corporations have amenities in the Middle Eastern nation, and billions of {dollars} have been invested in its energy sector. Blackouts have however grow to be a standard prevalence in the nation’s scorching summers, and shorter energy cuts happen virtually every day, with many Iraqis relying on personal turbines for dependable energy — whereas these with out that entry are left to endure. So why is such an oil-rich nation unable to keep the lights on? Iraq’s energy disaster has been years in the making. The Iraqi authorities has struggled to offer its residents with dependable vitality since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, after which the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime and the ensuing turmoil left the nationwide grid unable to deal with demand on account of persistent under-investment, mismanagement and corruption — like the embezzlement of public funds supposed for electrical energy tasks. This spilled into civil unrest in the summer season of 2021, when a whole bunch of Iraqis took to the streets amid energy and water outages gripped giant components of the nation, And simply in July, energy cuts sparked recent protests throughout the nation towards a backdrop of maximum warmth. Iran reliance and gasoline flaring Iraq depends closely on neighboring Iran for gasoline and energy: in 2023, 47% of the gasoline Iraq consumed got here from Iran and produced an estimated 29% of Iraqi energy technology. But the Iranian gasoline provide can be unreliable — partly as a result of Iran typically has hassle retaining its personal lights on, on account of sanctions and mismanagement, and since Tehran at occasions withholds its exports to Iraq for political causes. “Iraq has been suffering from inadequate electricity for decades. It’s a supply and demand problem as a growing and richer population demands electricity the state cannot supply,” James Jeffrey, a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute who beforehand served as the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, instructed CNBC. The nation of 46 million in actual fact has enormous portions of gasoline – however “Iraq never developed its natural gas sector. Quantities are huge but just flared off,” Jeffrey stated. He was referencing gasoline flaring, throughout which gasoline is burned off and misplaced throughout oil manufacturing, main to very large monetary and useful resource losses in addition to vital harm to the setting. “The reasons for this failure range from bureaucratic problems, incapacity to do strategic planning, and pressure from Iran through proxy political parties,” Jeffrey stated. “Iran wants to keep selling billions in gas and electricity to Baghdad and also wants Iraq dependent on Tehran.” Sanctions stress In March, the Trump administration – as a part of its maximum-pressure sanctions technique towards Iran – rescinded the waiver that Washington has traditionally granted Iraq to proceed shopping for Iranian electrical energy with out breaching U.S. sanctions. The transfer means Iraq can not import Iranian electrical energy – which contains about 3% or Iraq’s energy provide, in accordance with Platts reporting – however Baghdad can nonetheless import Iranian gasoline, which offers the a lot bigger a part of its energy. The U.S. has lengthy urged Iraq to diversify its vitality sources to cut back its reliance on Iran. Sanctioning Baghdad’s purchases of Iranian gasoline would deal a hammer blow to the nation’s capability to generate electrical energy, and sure set off an financial disaster and political instability. But the specter of it – and continued U.S. stress – is an efficient factor for Iraq, many analysts say, because it’s pushed Iraq to speculate extra in its energy technology capability and enact reforms in the sector. “Iraq will gain energy independence, bolstering the authority of its central government — which Iran has exploited with its cheap energy for too long,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington D.C., wrote in a report revealed in March. “The hard part now is ensuring that Tehran cannot continue exploiting Baghdad’s political environment and that the government finds reliable energy alternatives.” Power tasks underway A variety of main tasks are underway to enhance Iraq’s vitality independence. TotalEnergies’ $27 billion Gas Growth Integrated Project, signed in 2023, goals to seize a few of Iraq’s flared gasoline to be used in energy crops and construct a 1-1.25 gigawatt photo voltaic park for the southern metropolis of Basra. Siemens Energy this 12 months introduced a framework to develop as much as 14 gigawatts of gas-fired energy capability utilizing home gasoline, together with captured flare gasoline. For reference, the present capability of Iraq’s nationwide grid is lower than 28 gigawatts, in comparison with a peak demand of 48 gigawatts, in accordance with Jessica Obeid, head of Energy Transitions at SRMG Think. There can be extra give attention to renewable vitality and cross-border interconnection, with a hyperlink to Jordan’s energy grid underway and one other to Kuwait nonetheless in the works. Still, the transition is troublesome and can each take time and sure face continued obstacles on account of corruption, stress from Iran-backed members of Iraq’s authorities, and political unpredictability. Iraqi vitality independence is “over time very realistic,” Jeffrey stated. “The U.S. [sanctions] move was smart but we need to give Iraq some time, as major infrastructure needed doesn’t spring up overnight.”