By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj | Kurdish Policy AnalysisI have never heard of energy security in Kurdistan. Energy security is the essence of every country's security. In many countries, it is seen as part of national security. While every country has its own energy security, based on geography, capacity, availability and other areas, energy security in general has two pillars: energy sustainability, with affordability. Security is thus about thinking about how to deal with an interruption in the supply or availability of energy, and how to keep the price stable so that it does not cause an inflationary crisis.
Energy security will not be easily achieved in the kurdistan region because it does not have its own security decisions. But this does not mean that work cannot be done in this direction.
I will briefly make some points: First, start thinking about energy security and its dimensions in Kurdistan from the perspective of society, not the market or companies. Second, there are laws and regulations to formulate energy principles as everyone needs them. Third, create the conditions for corporate and private sector work within the framework of national security., not the other way around. Fourth, the existence of a price policy. Obviously, in Iraq, energy is supported by the government, which has many advantages and disadvantages. But marketing must also be organized. Fifth, a politician should not own an energy company.
Sixth, two models currently prevail in the world: petrostate and electrostate. The United States is seen as a petrostate or oil state and China as an electrostate. The region should encourage the transition to the electrosatellite model, for example removing taxes on inverters, batteries and other facilities. Seventh, the expansion of renewable energy creates the basis for energy autonomy and decentralization, which is important for ensuring energy security in relation to military security.
Kurdistan Energy Security: Sustainability, Affordability, and the Imperative of Resilience
Energy security remains one of the least examined yet most foundational dimensions of stability in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). While rarely framed in these explicit terms in public discourse, energy security constitutes the essence of any polity’s broader security architecture. In many states it is treated as an integral component of national security. Every country develops its own version shaped by geography, resource endowments, institutional capacity, and external dependencies. In general terms, energy security rests on two core pillars: sustainability of supply and affordability. It requires preparing for interruptions in availability while maintaining price stability so that shocks do not trigger inflationary crises or social unrest.
In the Kurdistan Region these abstract principles acquire concrete and urgent meaning. The KRI sits atop substantial hydrocarbon reserves, yet its energy system is simultaneously a source of potential autonomy and a persistent vulnerability. Geography places the region at the intersection of Iraqi federal politics, Turkish transit routes, Iranian influence, and broader regional conflicts. Capacity is constrained by infrastructure damage, legal disputes, and security threats. Availability fluctuates with production disruptions. The result is a system in which interruptions are not hypothetical but recurrent, and in which the dual imperatives of sustainability and affordability are continually tested.The Dual Pillars in PracticeSustainability in the Kurdish context has historically meant heavy reliance on oil and, increasingly, associated gas. Oil revenues have underwritten public finances, while gas from fields such as Khor Mor has become the backbone of electricity generation. Expansions at Khor Mor, including the KM250 project completed in late 2025, raised capacity to around 750 million standard cubic feet per day and enabled the field to fuel a large share—reportedly up to 80 percent—of the region’s power plants. This shift from diesel and heavy fuel oil toward natural gas represents a relative improvement in environmental performance and operational reliability.
Affordability is equally central. Chronic electricity shortages long forced households and businesses to rely on expensive private generators, imposing high costs and contributing to inflationary pressures. The Kurdistan Regional Government’s Runaki (“Light”) project, launched in late 2024, has sought to reverse this pattern. By mid-2026 it was delivering 24-hour electricity to millions of subscribers—over 1.2 million out of roughly 1.96 million total, or about 75 percent coverage in some reports—with plans for full regional coverage by the end of the year.
Officials claim bill reductions of up to 80 percent for beneficiaries, achieved through increased generation (reaching approximately 4,200 MW), smart metering, progressive tariffs, and greater use of gas and limited hydropower. Cleaner sources (primarily gas plus a small hydropower share) have been reported to account for over 80 percent of production under the initiative. These gains illustrate how sustainability and affordability can reinforce each other: replacing costly, polluting diesel with domestic gas lowers both fiscal burdens and household expenses while improving air quality. Vulnerabilities: Interruptions and Geopolitical ExposureEnergy security is fundamentally about resilience to interruption. The Kurdistan Region’s experience demonstrates how fragile that resilience remains. Repeated drone attacks on energy infrastructure—attributed in official reports and analyses to Iran-aligned groups—have targeted oil fields and the critical Khor Mor gas complex. A series of strikes in 2025, including a November assault, temporarily reduced gas output sharply and cut electricity generation by more than 3,000 MW in extreme episodes, plunging parts of the region into widespread blackouts. Oil production has also been repeatedly disrupted, with international operators suspending operations amid security concerns and production falling dramatically during periods of heightened regional tension.
Legal and political disputes with Baghdad compound these physical risks.
Long-standing disagreements over oil marketing authority, revenue sharing, and the constitutionality of Kurdistan Regional Government contracts have led to export suspensions, temporary deals, and ongoing uncertainty. Exports via the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline have been intermittent; the underlying pipeline agreement faced expiration pressures around mid-2026, requiring renegotiation and creating leverage points for all parties.
Dependence on Turkish transit and federal budget transfers means that political friction quickly translates into fiscal and supply stress. Regional conflicts further amplify exposure. Disruptions linked to wider hostilities have constrained southern Iraqi exports, occasionally elevating the strategic value of northern routes while simultaneously heightening threats to Kurdish facilities. The result is a classic energy-security dilemma: the same assets that generate revenue and power also become targets, and interruptions rapidly affect both availability and prices. Pathways Toward Greater SecurityAn analytical assessment points to several interlocking priorities. First, domestic prioritization of gas for power generation over premature export ambitions strengthens both sustainability and affordability. A prospective gas surplus, if realized through further development of fields such as Miran and Topkhana-Kurdamir, is most valuable when directed at reliable electricity for Kurdish citizens and, secondarily, at helping federal Iraq reduce dependence on Iranian gas imports. Intra-Iraqi energy trade offers a stabilizing mechanism that aligns economic self-interest with broader national resilience.
Second, diversification beyond hydrocarbons is essential for long-term sustainability. The region enjoys high solar irradiance (over 300 sunny days annually in many areas) and some hydropower potential. Official targets include multi-gigawatt solar deployment over the coming decade, alongside smaller projects already under development and growing residential adoption. Capturing flared gas for power generation further reduces waste and emissions.
These steps mitigate the price volatility and depletion risks inherent in fossil-fuel dependence. Third, physical and institutional resilience must improve. Enhanced protection of critical infrastructure (including anti-drone systems), clearer legal frameworks governing hydrocarbons, reliable payment mechanisms for operators, and deeper technical cooperation with Baghdad would reduce the frequency and severity of interruptions. Price stability depends not only on production continuity but also on transparent revenue management and gradual reform of subsidies to ensure fiscal sustainability without sudden shocks to consumers.ConclusionEnergy security in Kurdistan is not an abstract policy slogan; it is the practical condition for economic viability, social stability, and political agency. The two pillars of sustainability and affordability are inseparable from the capacity to absorb and recover from supply interruptions while preventing energy-price spikes from cascading into broader crises. Recent progress on gas-fired power and continuous electricity under the Runaki project demonstrates what is achievable when resources are directed toward domestic needs. Yet repeated attacks, unresolved federal disputes, and transit dependencies reveal how quickly gains can erode.
For the Kurdistan Region, treating energy security as a core element of its overall security strategy is no longer optional. Success will require political accommodation within Iraq, diversified and protected supply chains, and continued investment in both cleaner hydrocarbons and genuine renewables. Only then can the region move from a pattern of recurrent vulnerability toward a more durable equilibrium in which energy underpins, rather than undermines, stability and prosperity. Much more I hope there will be more discussion in this direction.
The author is an independent analyst specializing in energy security, geopolitics, and political economy in the Kurdistan Region and wider Middle East. With a focus on the intersection of oil and gas dynamics, electricity infrastructure, and regional power competition, the author examines how energy shapes autonomy, state-building, and strategic resilience in Kurdistan.
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