Iraq is set to open the country’s first industrial-scale solar plant on Sunday in Karbala province, southwest of Baghdad. It’s part of a new push by the government to expand renewable energy production in a country that is frequently beset by electricity crises despite being rich in oil and gas.

“This is the first project of its type in Iraq that has this capacity,” said Safaa Hussein, executive director of the plant in Karbala. It aims to “supply the national network with electricity, and reduce the fuel consumption especially during the daytime peak load, in addition to reducing the negative environmental impact of gas emissions,” he said.