To help meet domestic power demand, electricity exports to neighboring states, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Azerbaijan, have been reduced by 40%, the spokesman of the power industry said.
“Although consumption is half as much as in the hot summer days when peak load reaches 70,000 megawatts, Iran Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (Tavanir) cannot generate enough power due to a natural gas shortage,” Mostafa Rajabi-Mashhadi was also quoted as saying by ISNA.
Gas-powered units account for 80% of Iran’s total power production capacity and because the National Iranian Oil Company cannot supply them with sufficient feedstock, Tavanir has to lower exports to cope with local demand, he added.
The spokesman noted that most thermal power stations have gone off the grid, as they are being overhauled to get ready for the summer, adding that maintenance and repair works of 134 power plants have made 60% progress.
“Imports from neighboring states, including Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Armenia, have also risen by at least 20%,” he said.
Iran's installed electricity capacity is currently around 90,000 MW.
According to Rajabi-Mashhadi, although the country's installed capacity has increased in proportion to the annual economic growth, it is still not sufficient to meet the heavy domestic demand, because of which industries have been obliged to meet up to 5% of their needs by investing in renewable energies.
“As per the law passed by the parliament in 2022, all industries that need more than 1 megawatt of power per month are obliged to generate 1% of their total demand by investing in renewable energy projects in 2023.”
Based on the law, major industries, including automakers, steel complexes, cement factories and petrochemical plants, have to increase their investments gradually and must produce at least 5% of their power demand through green energy over the next five years.
The industrial units, which do not comply with the rule, will be charged at least 10 times higher than the subsidized rates for each kilowatt hour of electricity that they consume, he added.
Photovoltaic Plants
The construction of photovoltaic plants that have a capacity of 100 kilowatts and 200 kilowatts cost $100 million and $200 million, respectively.
Rajabi-Mashhadi noted that the government has increased the guaranteed purchase prices for solar and wind power generated by private companies by 20-60% compared to 2021.
Replacing old simple-cycle power stations with combined-cycle facilities will double the units’ efficiency by at least 25%.
"Dilapidated power stations use 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 500 million liters of diesel annually and raising their efficiency will reduce their feedstock considerably," he said.
In view of the current global gas and diesel prices ($4 per cubic meters and $1.5 per liter respectively), the renovation of old plants can help generate at least $500 million in revenues per year.
“About 15% of Iran’s electricity are generated by decrepit power plants built more than 30 years ago,” he added.
According to the spokesman, one-fifth of the aging thermal power stations are between 35 and 40 years old.
Based on international standards, the average useful life of such plants is 25 years.
Iran's thermal power plant capacity stands at 89,633 megawatts, of which 13,500 MW are produced in decrepit plants that are nearing retirement age.
Smart Meters
According to the spokesman, close to 3 million new smart power meters will be installed across Iran for high-consuming subscribers in household and agro sectors by August.
Giving a breakdown on power consumption in different industries, the Tavanir official said the farming sector with about 700,000 electricity meters consume about 50% of power or 70,000 megawatts per day.
“The total number of consumers in the household sector is estimated at 30.4 million, of which 650,000 are heavy consumers whose [old] meters will be replaced with new smart meters by March. They will be charged more than subscribers whose consumption is within [the permissible] limit of around 300 kilowatts per month,” he said.
According to Tavanir, the number of electricity meters nationwide in the household, agro and industrial sectors has grown 12-fold in four decades. There were three million electricity subscribers in 1980, which figure has currently reached 38.5 million.
Tavanir data show household subscribers had the highest increase (475,000 new meters), reaching 30.4 million, up 7% from 2021 when it stood at 30.2 million.
There were about 680,000 electricity meters in the agro sector last year, which has risen by 3% after 20,000 new subscribers joined the key sector.
