Billion dollar debt, heat wave push Iran to cut electricity to Iraq
▻http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/07/iran-iraq-electricity-protest.html
The two reasons have seemingly had an impact on Iran’s power supply to Iraq, as Iraq owes Iran a lot, and the latter is also suffering from electricity shortages in the capital and some southern cities due to increased electricity use in the summer.
This is not the first time that Iran cut off the electricity supply to Iraq. In early 2017, Iran cut off its power supply to Iraq because of the accrual of more than $2 billion in debt to Iran, which led Iraq to settle its debt in installments. Also, the accrual of debt in July 2016 led Iran to cut off its power supply to Iraq for two months. The power supply was only resumed after Iraq paid part of its debt.
Iraq has been importing between 1,500 and 2,000 MW from Iran since 2005 in a bid to cover its domestic production shortfall. Iraq needs more than 23,000 MW of electricity per hour to ensure a nonstop supply to homes and public buildings. However, it cannot produce more than 15,700 MW of electricity, hence the need to import electricity from abroad. The problem gets worse in times of extreme heat, when temperatures rise above 50 C (122 F).
#iran #irak #électricité_chiite !