Solar power gives Iraq's Kulak village 24/7 electricity and boosts farming

For years the residents of Kulak in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region suffered frequent blackouts that halted irrigation, spoiled food and disrupted daily life. A new solar installation equipped the village with panels and battery storage, delivering nonstop electricity that powers water pumps and enables cold storage for harvests. This project is one of five villages where hardware is combined with local training and agricultural research, treating electricity as a managed asset rather than a one-off gift.

By allowing farmers to irrigate without diesel and to store produce for better market prices, the initiative showcases how decentralized renewable energy can mitigate Iraq's rural energy crisis despite the country's oil wealth and rising climate vulnerability. The author suggests that expanding such village-level models, backed by policy and financing, could offer a more durable route for the nation's energy transition than top-down megaprojects.