There might be a war going on in Iraq, but the daily humdrum lives of millions of Iraqis goes on. And what is bothering the common people of the war torn country the most is the lack of electricity. It does come, but the supply is erratic. What has led to these states of affairs in the country? There are no simple answers.
During Saddam’s time the current production of 5500 MW would have been sufficient to light up the country. But things are different today. With the fall of the dictator’s regime, cheap and affordable domestic appliances from China, Iran and the United Arab Emirates have flooded Iraqi homes. These electricity guzzlers have only added to the power woes.
You might well ask why there is power shortage in an oil rich nation like Iraq. The problem is there is limited refining capacity of oil. Also, oil supply systems are constantly attacked by militants.
During Saddam’s time Baghdad had privileges when it came to electricity supply. The dictator used to squeeze away power from far flung provinces and keep the capital well lit. The new Iraqi government is fairer or may be its writ does not run fully in areas elsewhere in the country. Requests from Baghdad to these areas to divert some electricity to the capital are often ignored.
The employees of power generating units are often attacked, killed or kidnapped. This hardly helps electricity production.
The Americans are doing all they can. They have added 2200 MW of new generating capacity, but the demand is overwhelming. The World Bank estimates that $20 billion of investment in the power generation sector will be required to fulfill the electricity needs of the country. This is making even the US sweat. The expectation that Iraq would stand up soon on its own feet has been belied. This perhaps is the basic reason for the frequent blackouts in Baghdad.
