• Iraq's electricity ministry is targeting 10GW of new solar capacity, spokesman Ahmed Turki told Alsabah newspaper, as reported by AGBI on 27 August 2026.
• Only one deal is a signed, awarded contract so far: a 1GW solar project split between France's TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy.
• Saudi Arabia's Acwa Power and Abu Dhabi's Masdar each hold a 1GW "initial agreement" — reported, not confirmed as binding — while Norway's Scatec has withdrawn from an award it had won, reportedly over slow contract finalization.
• Separately, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has directed the ministry to double national electricity production and distribution by 2027, targeting 37,000MW of new capacity — 12,000MW of it solar — on top of 30,000MW currently produced, per Iraq Business News (17 August 2026).
• The gap between the ministry's 10GW solar figure and the PM's 12,000MW solar figure is unreconciled in public reporting; treat both as ministry-sourced targets, not confirmed installed or contracted capacity.

Iraq's electricity ministry says it plans to add 10 gigawatts of solar generation as part of a wider overhaul meant to end chronic power shortages, spokesman Ahmed Turki told the Alsabah newspaper, as reported by AGBI on 27 August 2026. Of the projects named in that reporting, only one has cleared to a signed, awarded contract — a 1GW deal split between France's TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy. Saudi Arabia's Acwa Power and Abu Dhabi's Masdar each hold a 1GW "initial agreement," a pre-binding stage from which Norway's Scatec has already withdrawn on a comparable award.

One awarded contract, two initial agreements, one withdrawal

Of the projects reported, only one has cleared to an awarded contract: a 1GW solar project split between France's TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy. Saudi Arabia's Acwa Power and Abu Dhabi's Masdar each hold a 1GW "initial agreement" with Iraq — reported by AGBI, not confirmed as a signed, binding contract. Norway's Scatec had been awarded a comparable 1GW deal but has since withdrawn, reportedly over slow contract finalization on Baghdad's side.

A bigger power-sector plan sits behind the solar push

The solar figure sits inside a broader directive from Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, who has told the Ministry of Electricity to double national production and distribution capacity by 2027, according to Iraq Business News on 17 August 2026. The plan reportedly maintains 30,000MW of current production, adds 10,000MW of imported power, and layers on 37,000MW of new capacity — split 15,000MW gas turbines, 12,000MW solar, and 10,000MW thermal. That solar figure does not match the ministry's separately reported 10GW target; the discrepancy is unresolved in public reporting.

Why Gulf-listed developers are the ones to watch

Acwa Power and Masdar both use regional pipeline growth as a forward signal to investors on order-book expansion. Iraq's ministry has so far described their Iraqi positions as initial agreements rather than signed contracts — the same pre-binding stage from which Scatec's award later collapsed. The gap between an agreement and a financially closed, contracted project is where Iraqi tenders have stalled before, per AGBI's reporting on the Scatec withdrawal.

What to watch next

The next confirming signals would be binding contract signatures or financial close announcements from Acwa Power and Masdar on their respective 1GW Iraqi agreements, and any construction milestones from the TotalEnergies-QatarEnergy consortium's awarded project. Reconciliation between the ministry's 10GW solar figure and the prime minister's 12,000MW figure, and any updated timeline from Baghdad, would also clarify the scale of the opportunity. This is not investment advice.