GCC power grid to supply Iraq with electricity

• Grid link-up projects completed
• Electricity delivered from Kuwait
• Plan for 500MW supply

Iraq will soon start receiving 500 megawatts of electricity from neighbouring Gulf oil producers as part of a long-term supply contract to tackle its chronic power shortages.

The Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) will provide electricity to Iraq after grid link-up projects were completed.

Electricity will be delivered from Kuwait’s networks to the southern Iraqi port of Basra, which is suffering from power shortages along with other Iraqi areas due to a sharp decline in gas supplies from nearby Iran.

“The power network connection with the GCC is a good step to diversify Iraq’s energy sources. We expect to start receiving 500MW from the GCC at the start of this year,” Iraq’s electricity minister Ahmed Mousa said in local press comments on Thursday.

Iraq, Opec’s second largest oil producer, suffered from a 22,000MW power gap at the end of 2025 as a result of the decline in gas and electricity supplies over the past two years, according to data released by the Eco Iraq Observatory.

Besides the GCC, Iraq will receive equivalent power supplies from Jordan through power connection grids across the border.

Jordanian officials said last year that the link-up project inside Iraq’s territory was nearly complete and the facilities will be fully ready in August.

“The plan is moving as per schedule. At the end of August we will be able to supply 150MW of electricity to Iraq. Supplies could be gradually increased to 500MW,” said Sufian Al-Batayneh, general manager of the national electric power company.

• GCC-Iraq power link to be operational by next year
• Neighbours to supply Iraq with 3GW of electricity this summer
• Iraq says gas supplies from Iran have been halted

In late 2025 Iraq’s caretaker prime minister Mohammed Al-Sudani unveiled a 20-year plan to boost power generation to 57,000MW with the help of international companies.

“The government is working on completing housing units and complexes, which requires a stable energy supply,” Al-Sudani said.

“We have launched a 20-year plan to add 57,000MW, in agreement with Siemens and GE, as well as introducing renewable and solar energy sources,” he said.

Iraq, which controls nearly 3.5 trillion cubic metres of proven gas reserves, said last year it expects to be self sufficient in gas by 2028 when most of the gas field development projects it awarded to foreign companies are completed.