Construction Advances on Iraq’s 300-MW Karbala Solar Project

Construction is advancing on Iraq’s 300-MW Karbala solar power plant, a key renewable energy project that will be the first of its kind to feed electricity directly into the national grid.

The project is being implemented by AlBilal Group under the supervision of the General Company for Electricity Production - Middle Euphrates, the Ministry of Electricity said last week. It spans an area of 4,000 dunams (1,000 hectares) in the Karbala desert.

Electricity Minister Ziyad Ali Fadhil said 39,000 solar panels have been installed so far, out of a total of about half a million planned for the site.

The Karbala plant is part of Iraq’s wider push to expand solar energy within its national power mix to address growing demand and ease electricity shortages. Work is underway on solar projects in five governorates across the country as several large-scale initiatives have been announced over the last few years. Some of the projects will be operational by the end of this year, a ministry spokesman told local Arabic-language daily Al Sabaah during the weekend.

In addition, the Central Bank's initiative to provide citizens with loans to install home solar energy systems is ongoing and is witnessing widespread demand, the spokesman said.