Iraq has approved a project to install solar power systems on 500 ministries and government offices with a value of around 90 billion Iraqi dinars ($68 million), the official Arabic language daily Alsabah reported on Monday.

The new systems will replace traditional power networks in the 500 buildings as part of a UN-backed project to gradually switch to renewable energy and reduce emissions, the paper said, quoting Shaima Sadiq, secretary of the National Energy Initiative.

Sadiq told the paper the Planning Ministry, which is overseeing the project, has allocated the needed funds and that it would be launched before 2024.

“There is a national plan to support renewable energy and switch gradually from traditional power as part of a strategy to reduce carbon emissions,” she said.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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