Iraq News Now

Shafaq News / The Iraqi "Green"

Observatory placed responsibility on the Central Bank for undermining the

project of using solar panels in homes to generate electricity, citing the

stringent conditions of its lending initiative. The observatory called for

certain clauses of the initiative to be amended for its success.

In a press statement today, the observatory

stated, "more than a year has passed since the launch of the Central

Bank's initiative to support renewable energy, aimed at supporting sustainable

solutions and mitigating the effects of climate change." It noted that

"the initiative declared its failure since its launch due to the technical

specifications it imposed, such as solar panels and batteries."

The statement further highlighted that "the

percentage of consumers who could benefit from these projects was reduced

because many of them were denied loans." It called for "amending the

clauses of the initiative to enable middle-income citizens to borrow."

The observatory proposed "setting lower

specifications for solar energy equipment in line with what is available in the

local market, in addition to the current ones in the initiative."

It emphasized, "the modification of the

lending mechanism should be by granting solar energy companies allowances for

importing or providing favorable interest rates to consumers, with the damage,

if any, being borne by the borrower."

In July 2021, the Central Bank of Iraq decided

to promote the adoption of renewable energy production tools and work with the High

Committee for Lending to ensure the provision of a percentage of the

electricity generated from renewable energy sources (solar panels) to

residential complexes benefiting from the initiative.

In early March 2022, the Central Bank issued

guidelines for financing electricity generation systems from renewable energy

sources.

The Central Bank stated at the time that this

initiative, in line with the country's commitment to the Paris Climate

Agreement, aimed to transition to clean energy within this framework. A

committee was formed, headed by the Deputy Governor and including representatives

from the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Electricity, the Central

Organization for Standardization and Quality Control, as well as experts and

investors from the private sector.