AMMAN, Jordan

Jordan said an electricity grid interconnection with Iraq will go into operation on Saturday. 

The electric line between Jordan’s Risha power station and Iraq’s Rutba station will have a capacity of 13 megawatts, Amjad Rawashdeh, head of the Jordanian National Electric Power Company, told the state news agency Petra.

The Iraqi Ministry of Electricity also confirmed that the power supply line is fully ready for operation.

Last year, Amman and Baghdad signed an agreement to supply Iraq with a capacity of 40 megawatts of electricity.

In October 2022, Iraq and Jordan 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 Iraqi officials.

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

In 2022, Iraq signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia for electricity interconnection between the two neighbors.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul