No one batted an eye when the power abruptly cut off in English teacher Miriam Zia’s 11th-grade classroom at the Sardam International School in Duhok. The cuts occur at least twice a day and are now “part of the fabric of our society,” Zia told Al-Monitor.
To combat growing electricity concerns in the district, the Iraqi governorate of Duhok signed an agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) earlier this month to set up the district’s first solar energy park. The project comes amid pressure on Iraq to diversify its energy sources and lessen its dependence on Iran.