Power cuts sparked riots in Basra in summer 2003

Electricity supply has been a continued source of frustration among Iraqis, with power cuts sparking riots in Basra last summer.

Power use is growing as factories grind into action and consumers rush out to buy fridges and satellite dishes.

The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) is racing against time to increase production to meet peak summer demand.

In 2003, peak generation reached the pre-war level of 4,400 Megawatts, after dropping to 3,300MW after the war.

Production has declined to around 4,000MW in recent months as some functioning power plants have been taken off-line to allow upgrades to be carried out.

The CPA says it aims to increase generation to 6,000MW by June.

Fair share

Iraqis still suffer frequent power cuts, sometimes two or three a day in Baghdad, but the CPA says the whole country is now getting 12 - 16 hours of power a day.

"For the first time in 30 years, the power is being distributed fairly," a CPA spokesperson said, stating that before the war Baghdad had round-the-clock power while other areas had none.

A boom in appliance imports is pushing up demand for electricity

Further problems have come as power lines have been sabotaged and looters have stripped them of their valuable copper and aluminium.

CPA contractors have repaired hundreds of kilometres of these, but with substations ageing and many damaged, the distribution network is also a concern.

Much of the system is at least 15 years old. The World Bank estimates that 70% of power facilities were destroyed or damaged during the Gulf War, and that capacity had only recovered to half of its 1990 level by 2003.

Once repairs and renovations of existing facilities are completed, electricity generation capacity will increase more slowly as new power stations will need to be built from scratch.