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Iraq Completes Procedures to Connect Power Grids with Gulf States

Abadan oil refinery in southwest Iran pictured from the Iraqi side of Shatt al-Arab in al-Faw (Reuters)
Abadan oil refinery in southwest Iran pictured from the Iraqi side of Shatt al-Arab in al-Faw (Reuters)
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Iraq Completes Procedures to Connect Power Grids with Gulf States

Abadan oil refinery in southwest Iran pictured from the Iraqi side of Shatt al-Arab in al-Faw (Reuters)
Abadan oil refinery in southwest Iran pictured from the Iraqi side of Shatt al-Arab in al-Faw (Reuters)

The Iraqi Ministry of Electricity announced completing all procedures to connect its electricity grid with GCC Grids.

The ministry's spokesman, Ahmed Moussa, said in a press statement that 87 percent of the understandings that were put forward between Iraq and the Gulf countries on the electrical linkage had been completed.

Moussa indicated that the project still needs a memorandum of implementation for the power lines that connect the al-Faw power plant with Kuwait's al-Zour power plant.

Moussa added that the capacity will be 500 megawatts in the first phase and will begin transferring to Basra Governorate in the summer of 2022.

The Ministry of Electricity also aims to transfer solar energy projects to work at 7,500 megawatts, especially since an initial agreement was signed with the Chinese company (PowerChina) at a value of 2,000 megawatts.

Iran often deliberately cuts off gas and electricity supplies to Iraq unilaterally, according to Moussa.

He indicated that supplies were cut off in July and Tehran claimed the country needs electricity. It has a binding agreement with Baghdad based on Iraq's permission to import gas and electricity as an exception to the US sanctions imposed on Iran.

Iran cuts off supplies due to Iraq's failure to pay its $5 billion in debts, said the spokesman, which Baghdad cannot transfer due to the US sanctions.

The electricity ministry said Wednesday that Iranian gas supplied to the central and southern regions was reduced to 8 million cubic meters per day from 49 million, causing a risk of severe power shortages.

A reduction in Iranian gas supplies led the Iraqi national power system to lose about 5500 megawatts, the ministry said.

The ministry has contacted the Iranian energy ministry and Iran's embassy in Baghdad to clarify the reasons for the reduction.

The statement added that the ministry took urgent measures, including high coordination with the Ministry of Oil to pump additional quantities of alternative fuels to compensate for the losses, which could affect the maintenance of the production.

The Oil Ministry announced that the total imports of oil sales for the past month amounted to more than $6 billion due to the high oil prices and the increase in Iraq's exports from the oil fields between the governorates of Basra and Kirkuk.

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UN, World Bank to Fund Climate-Resilient Roads in Rural Areas in Yemen

Supporting local initiatives in Yemen to maintain rural roads (Social Fund for Development)
Supporting local initiatives in Yemen to maintain rural roads (Social Fund for Development)
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UN, World Bank to Fund Climate-Resilient Roads in Rural Areas in Yemen

Supporting local initiatives in Yemen to maintain rural roads (Social Fund for Development)
Supporting local initiatives in Yemen to maintain rural roads (Social Fund for Development)

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the World Bank are constructing climate-resilient roads in rural areas in Yemen and are enhancing road infrastructure to improve access to food and basic services for rural communities across the country, the two bodies revealed in a statement.

The constructions are part of the three-year Yemen Emergency Lifeline Connectivity project, which began in 2022.

The project aims to provide climate resilient road access and employment and entrepreneurship opportunities to the food insecure rural population of Yemen.

It comprises rural and village access roads improvement and maintenance, such as the rehabilitation of lifeline rural access roads and road maintenance through private sector participation and supply chain enhancement.

Also, the project will strengthen the management capacity of transport sector public institutions to finance the project management capacities of the road maintenance fund (RMF) and rural access program (RAP) through a program of capacity building.

This aims to prepare them to efficiently manage the network in the medium to longer-term and strengthen RAP’s and RMF’s capacity to predict, respond, and design resilient roads infrastructure to extreme climate events such as floods, to assess vulnerability of infrastructure assets and prepare and implement resilient investment plans.

In addition, the project supports monitoring and evaluation to ensure that the project is successfully and efficiently implemented and to provide immediate response to an eligible crisis or emergency following the procedures governed by the Bank policy for investment project financing.

$50 Million

With $50 million in funding from the World Bank's International Development Association, UNOPS said it is rehabilitating and upgrading 150 km of access roads in rural areas and 60 km of access roads to villages, as well as supporting the maintenance of an additional 150 km of road.

UNOPS is also procuring and installing three pre-fabricated bridges as part of the project.

To date, works on more than 70 km of roads are complete, while works on 85 km are near complete.

“We are proud to partner with the World Bank on a project that will help increase economic opportunities for rural communities by facilitating their access to markets and social services,” said Muhammad Usman Akram, Director of UNOPS Multi-Country Office in Amman.

The rehabilitated roads will help address food insecurity and foster the safe and reliable delivery of food and other essential goods to rural communities.

The all-weather roads will also provide a way for humanitarian organizations to access more communities.

“The reactivation of the Road Asset Management System will support Yemen in assessing the vulnerability of infrastructure assets, designing climate-resilient road infrastructure and preparing climate-resilient investment plans for subsequent implementation in the future,” added Usman Akram.