2 THE POLITICS OF LOW-CARBON ENERGY IN IRAN AND IRAQ
39
the context of water shortages, while discussing solar and wind power
at length, while the Iraqi government’s post-ISIS list of investment
projects has five solar opportunities but nothing in hydroelectricity. 100
This may also reflect some opinion in the international community against
large hydropower because of its negative social and local environmental
impacts, for instance in the withdrawal of Western financial institutions
from supporting Turkey’s Ilısu Dam. Yet hydropower remains by far the
largest source of renewable energy in Iraq, with considerable room for
rehabilitation and expansion.
Iraq’s nuclear programme started in 1956, and it acquired a 2 MW
research reactor from the USSR. However, from the early 1970s, under
the direction of then vice-president Saddam Hussein, its efforts were
solely directed towards gaining nuclear weapons. The country’s power
generation relied on its oil, gas and about 10% of hydropower, while large
amounts of associated gas continue to be flared, so civil nuclear power
was never required. Iraq bought two research reactors from France, as
well as a plutonium separation laboratory. However, Israel bombed the
larger reactor in June 1981 before it could come online. After that, Iraq
relied on more clandestine approaches towards uranium enrichment, but
its nuclear infrastructure was entirely dismantled during the 1990–1991
Gulf War and subsequent IAEA inspections. 101
There has been no serious attempt to revive nuclear power in Iraq
after the 2003 US-led invasion. In 2009, the government approached
France about the possibility of rebuilding one of the research reactors
destroyed during the First Gulf War, 102 and it repeated this call to the
UN in 2017. 103 But the continuing availability of flared gas, concerns
over instability, Iraq’s lack of financial resources and institutional capacity,
and the growing competitiveness of renewables, make it very unlikely a
nuclear power generation programme would make progress.
Iraq has seen a number of plans to expand its use of non-hydro
renewables. Global horizontal irradiation (GHI) is about 1900–2000
kWh/m 2 /year over the central part of the country, and more than 2100
kWh/m 2 /year in the western desert. This is not as good as some neighbouring countries such as Jordan, Egypt or the UAE, but is still as good
or better than southern Spain or the south-western USA, and presents
very attractive conditions for solar PV.
A small amount (36.5 MW) of solar photovoltaic was installed during
2013–2014, 104 and parts of Baghdad feature solar street-lighting. The
Integrated National Energy Strategy of 2012 foresaw 2 GW of renewables
39
the context of water shortages, while discussing solar and wind power
at length, while the Iraqi government’s post-ISIS list of investment
projects has five solar opportunities but nothing in hydroelectricity. 100
This may also reflect some opinion in the international community against
large hydropower because of its negative social and local environmental
impacts, for instance in the withdrawal of Western financial institutions
from supporting Turkey’s Ilısu Dam. Yet hydropower remains by far the
largest source of renewable energy in Iraq, with considerable room for
rehabilitation and expansion.
Iraq’s nuclear programme started in 1956, and it acquired a 2 MW
research reactor from the USSR. However, from the early 1970s, under
the direction of then vice-president Saddam Hussein, its efforts were
solely directed towards gaining nuclear weapons. The country’s power
generation relied on its oil, gas and about 10% of hydropower, while large
amounts of associated gas continue to be flared, so civil nuclear power
was never required. Iraq bought two research reactors from France, as
well as a plutonium separation laboratory. However, Israel bombed the
larger reactor in June 1981 before it could come online. After that, Iraq
relied on more clandestine approaches towards uranium enrichment, but
its nuclear infrastructure was entirely dismantled during the 1990–1991
Gulf War and subsequent IAEA inspections. 101
There has been no serious attempt to revive nuclear power in Iraq
after the 2003 US-led invasion. In 2009, the government approached
France about the possibility of rebuilding one of the research reactors
destroyed during the First Gulf War, 102 and it repeated this call to the
UN in 2017. 103 But the continuing availability of flared gas, concerns
over instability, Iraq’s lack of financial resources and institutional capacity,
and the growing competitiveness of renewables, make it very unlikely a
nuclear power generation programme would make progress.
Iraq has seen a number of plans to expand its use of non-hydro
renewables. Global horizontal irradiation (GHI) is about 1900–2000
kWh/m 2 /year over the central part of the country, and more than 2100
kWh/m 2 /year in the western desert. This is not as good as some neighbouring countries such as Jordan, Egypt or the UAE, but is still as good
or better than southern Spain or the south-western USA, and presents
very attractive conditions for solar PV.
A small amount (36.5 MW) of solar photovoltaic was installed during
2013–2014, 104 and parts of Baghdad feature solar street-lighting. The
Integrated National Energy Strategy of 2012 foresaw 2 GW of renewables