As hot summer, blackouts loom, Iraq looks to solar power
Key takeaways
- With so much sunlight, Iraq is very well-positioned to use solar power to help fix its annual summer electricity crisis.
- But it was only recently that Hiba al-Amiri's family started to seriously consider getting solar panels installed at home to compensate for the annual summer blackouts.
- "In the war, Iranian gas was cut and for four days, we had no electricity," the Baghdad-based teacher told DW.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
With so much sunlight, Iraq is very well-positioned to use solar power to help fix its annual summer electricity crisis. So why is it that Iraq's government has only recently started to take solar power seriously?
https://p.dw.com/p/5Ev Cc Despite huge amounts of sunshine, Iraq only opened its first industrial solar power plant in Karbala in late 2025Image: Anmar Khalil/AP Photo/picture alliance Advertisement Iraq has long suffered through scorching summers that the country's national grid hasn't been able to keep up with. But it was only recently that Hiba al-Amiri's family started to seriously consider getting solar panels installed at home to compensate for the annual summer blackouts.
"In the war, Iranian gas was cut and for four days, we had no electricity," the Baghdad-based teacher told DW. Iran supplies up to 40% of the gas that Iraq needs to keep its power stations running, In March, Iran completely cut gas to Iraq after Israel attacked its gas fields.