Iraq to Add 1,200 MW of Electricity to its National Grid by Summer 2027

Chinese state-owned utility company Shanghai Electric said more than 1,200 megawatts (MW) of electricity will be added to Iraq’s national grid by summer with the start of several gas-fired power plants.

Ahmed Abdul Latif Al-Amin, regional director of Shanghai Electric, said that these power plants will become operational in summer 2027.

Additionally, new power stations with a combined capacity of 4,000 MW will enter between 2027 and 2028, bringing the total capacity to 5,000 MW by 2030, Al-Amin said.

The company is currently working on upgrading the Haritha and Wasit power plants. Haritha will add 220 MW, while Wasit will have a capacity to generate 2,520 MW upon reaching full design capacity.

In December 2025, Shanghai Electric broke ground on the Euphrates Combined Cycle Expansion Project, which involves upgrading existing simple-cycle units into combined-cycle systems across Najaf, Karbala, Babylon, and Al-Qadisiyyah governorates. The company had said the expansion would add a total capacity of 625 MW while boosting overall plant efficiency by nearly 50 percent without increasing fuel consumption.