Potential of Renewable Energy Resources with an Emphasis on Solar Power in Iraq: An Outlook

Hussain Al-Kayiem and Sanan T. Mohammad
Additional contact information
Sanan T. Mohammad: Mechanical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak, Malaysia

Resources, 2019, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-20

Abstract: This study presents an outlook on the renewable energies in Iraq, and the potential for deploying concentrated solar power technologies to support power generation in Iraq. Solar energy has not been sufficiently utilized at present in Iraq. However, this energy source can play an important role in energy production in Iraq, as the global solar radiation ranging from 2000 kWh/m 2 to a 2500 kWh/m 2 annual daily average. In addition, the study presents the limited current solar energy activities in Iraq. The attempts of the Iraqi government to utilize solar energy are also presented. Two approaches for utilizing concentrated solar power have been proposed, to support existing thermal power generation, with the possibility of being implemented as standalone plants or being integrated with thermal power plants. However, the cost analysis has shown that for 50 kW concentrated solar power in Iraq, the cost is around 0.23 US cent/kWh without integration with energy storage. Additionally, notable obstacles and barriers bounding the utilization of solar energy are also discussed. Finally, this study proposes initiatives that can be adopted by the Iraqi government to support the use of renewable energy resources in general, and solar energy in particular.

Keywords: electric power in Iraq; concentrating solar power; renewable energy sources in Iraq; solar energy in Iraq; power scenario in Iraq (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/8/1/42/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/8/1/42/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jresou:v:8:y:2019:i:1:p:42-:d:208904

Access Statistics for this article

Resources is currently edited by Ms. Donchian Ma

More articles in Resources from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().