TEHRAN, Jul. 06 (MNA) – Iranian power plants in the western Kurdestan province currently have the capacity to provide up to 300 megawatts of electricity to Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah, a senior official said on Saturday.

Managing Director of Power Distribution Company of Kurdestan Hiva Lahounian added that should the necessary infrastructures on both sides be provided, the figure can increase to 900MW in the long term.

His Iraqi counterpart in Sulaymaniyah province Salar Hisamuddin this week that there is the necessary coordination between Iraq’s central government and Sulaymaniyah for purchase of electricity from Iran.

Noting that because of Sulaymaniyah’s failure to pay its debts to Iran, it is no longer possible for the province to import Iranian electricity, the official said that the local officials expect the Iraqi central government and the president to step in and solve the problem.

Despite major obstacles the United States has created for Iran’s energy customers, Iraq continues to purchase gas and electricity from Iran.

Iraq is the biggest importer of Iranian electricity for more than a decade. The Arab neighbor needs at least 23,000 megawatts of electricity to meet domestic demand. Decades of war, civil strife and terror attacks have destroyed its power infrastructure. Iraq has a power deficit of 7,000 MW.

In Summer, the temperature rises to near 50 degrees Celsius in the country, making its demand for gas and electricity increase exponentially.