AMMAN, Jordan

Jordan and Iraq signed a document on Sunday to supply Baghdad with electricity.

Under the agreement signed in Amman, Jordan will feed Iraq with a capacity of 40 megawatts in the first phase.

“The move comes as part of efforts by Jordan and Iraq to begin establishing a joint electrical connection, which will contribute to enhancing energy exchange on both sides,” Amjad al-Rawashdeh, head of Jordan’s National Electricity Company, said in statements cited by the state news agency Petra.

He said the agreement is also part of a more comprehensive plan to establish a common Arab energy market in the future.

Rawashdeh said a second stage of the project is expected to take place in the third quarter of 2024.

“With the completion of the second phase, Iraq will be supplied with a total capacity of 150-200 megawatts,” he added.

In October 2022, Jordan and Iraq laid the foundation stone for an electrical interconnection project between the two neighboring countries.

Iraq generates some 19,000-21,000 megawatts, but the country’s actual need tops 30,000 megawatts, according to local authorities.

For years, Baghdad has imported 1,200 megawatts of electricity from neighboring Iran to feed its local electric power plants.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi