Meanwhile, Iraq has begun efforts to restore power. This follows a large, 22-hour outage that shut down service in the central and southern portions of the country. The incident was first reported on Monday, 11 August 2025. This was largely because of a shutdown at the Hamidiya power plant in Anbar province. Their maximum recorded temperature reached an astonishing 47 degrees Celsius. Residents had to deal with inconsistent access to energy, a hardship that Iraqis continue to suffer from today due to Iraq’s continued dependence on Iranian NG imports.
The political realities of providing stable energy to its citizens have continued to dog Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion. Despite being a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and one of the world’s leading oil producers, Iraq has struggled to translate its vast resources into stable electricity supply. The fallout of the current energy crisis has many citizens seeking alternatives through private generators or solar. This trend is especially pronounced during extreme weather events.
The Outage and Its Causes
The latest blackout came just days after an emergency shutdown of the Hamidiya power plant. This unilateral shutdown even triggered faults across the national electricity transmission network. Mohammed Nehme, a spokesperson for Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity, explained the situation:
“An emergency power outage occurred this afternoon in the power transmission lines, causing widespread outages across the national electricity grid.”
In response to the crisis, Nehme said previously that restoration of electricity was already in progress.
“Our technical teams are currently working to address the fault and restore power. They have begun gradually restoring power, and service will be fully restored within the coming hours.”
Iraq has no choice but to address its energy woes now and for the long term. That’s particularly important during this ongoing dangerously hot heat wave.
Ongoing Energy Challenges
The challenge of Iraq’s energy crisis is further complicated by the country’s dependence on Iranian natural gas for electricity production. Shifting U.S. policies have rattled this dependency. In March 2025, President Donald Trump went a step further and terminated a waiver allowing Iraq to purchase Iranian electricity. Amid these tumultuous geostrategic developments, in particular, concerns have deepened about Iraq’s capacity to secure and sustain steady, reliable energy flows. Public anger over power shortages has in the past triggered protests throughout Baghdad.
That summer of 2021, the region experienced extreme heat above 50°C. This record hot weather caused drastic reductions in energy and water availability, sparking mass protests. The chair of the parliamentary energy committee drew attention to massive blackouts in the country’s central and southern areas. Yet, Kurdistan came out mostly unscathed from these shakings.
Path Forward
Iraq is dealing with an unprecedented climate crisis and energy deficit. The recent large-scale restoration efforts present themselves at an opportune time, seeking to respond to these clarion issues. The government is making efforts to stabilize its electricity supply and develop a localized, independent energy source. Technical teams are currently working around the clock to address and correct the faults in the system. We are very optimistic that such outages will be fewer and farther in between going forward.