TotalEnergies gigawatt-scale green power plan for blackout-hit Iraq in $27bn spree

PV array will serve outage-prone Basra as French supermajor unveils massive fossil-dominated spend plans in 'country where company was born'

Iraqi protestors demonstrate against a lack of basic services in Basra.
Iraqi protestors demonstrate against a lack of basic services in Basra.Foto: HAIDAR MOHAMMED ALI/AFP via Getty Images/NTB scanpix

French energy group TotalEnergies confirmed plans for a gigawatt-scale solar plant in Iraq as part of a reported $27bn spend that is dominated by oil & gas-related projects.

The deals will kick off with a $10bn spend under what the nation's oil minister called the “biggest investment by a western company in Iraq”.

One of the world’s largest oil producers, conflict-scarred Iraq has a big electricity problem, with ageing power infrastructure that’s unable to keep up with demand, leading to frequent blackouts in its major cities.

TotalEnergies said the 1GW (ac) array will supply power to the Basra region – one of the worst hit by lengthy outages and scene of angry protests at the state of the infrastructure –confirming an agreement in principle first reported by Recharge earlier in 2021.

Along with offshore wind, solar has emerged as a key focus of TotalEnergies’ – formerly Total’s – massive renewable energy ambitions, with plans to build a 100GW gross capacity base by 2030 that would be among the largest in the world.

The French supermajor has already made huge solar investments in India, the US and Spain as part of the growth strategy.

The Basra solar plant is part of a $10bn investment by TotalEnergies in Iraq’s energy sector, with three other projects based around gas supply, after deals with the Iraqi government that the group said “signal our return through the front door to Iraq, the country where our company was born in 1924”.

CEO Patrick Pouyanné claimed the agreement shows the “new sustainable development model of TotalEnergies, a multi-energy company which supports producing countries in their energy transition by combining the production of natural gas and solar energy to meet the growing demand for electricity.

“It also demonstrates how TotalEnergies can leverage its unique position in the Middle East, a region where the lowest cost hydrocarbons are produced, to gain access to large-scale renewable projects.”

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Published 6 September 2021, 09:42Updated 6 September 2021, 09:43
solarIraqTotalEnergiesMiddle East & Africa