Industries and the farming community helped curb power consumption (by turning off water pumps and machinery) in the hot season (June-August) by as much as 3,000 megawatts.
As per a contract between the Energy Ministry and the two sectors (industrial and agriculture), the latter helped cut consumption during peak hours and as a result were given $25 million discount in their billing, ISNA reported.
Of the total amount, $300,000 was given to cement and steel companies in Gilan Province.
The news agency quoted ministry officials, namely Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, the ministry’s spokesman for the power department, as saying that adding 3,000 MW to the national grid would at the least need $300 million.
Put simply, promoting the culture of careful consumption and giving industries and farmers financial incentives can play an important role (at least in short term) in managing electricity usage during summer when households turn on the cooling systems and the mercury in some regions reaches 50°C.
Unlike previous years, in the summer of 2019 in cooperation with the household, industrial, commercial and agro sectors, consumption barely increased by 1% during peak hours. In 2018 it had shot up by 5%.
The highest recorded consumption in the country in 2018 was 57,100 MW and in 2019 57,600 MW. It was reported that if the key sectors had been indifferent, consumption would have reached 61 gigawatts.
Power generation cost, including production and transmission, is 2 cents per kilowatt-hour, but it was sold for 0.7 cents per kWh up until last June. Rates increased by 7% from the middle of last year.
Power consumption in Iran is among the highest in the world, but the momentum of growth has been restrained in the past two years.
Summertime Warning
Although new power plants will raise output, but if households and other electricity-intensive sectors do not control consumption, blackouts in summer will be inevitable, the Energy Ministry’s Rajabi Mashhadi warned.
He put the number of household subscribers at 29 million, of which 24 million use power within the average 300-kilowatt hour/month bracket -- set as a basic consumption model. Around 15%, or 5 million, of homes are considered heavy consumers.
Referring to the ministry’s aim to prevent power outages this summer, Rajabi Mashhadi said in addition to building new plants, new contracts with the agro and industry sectors is on the ministry’s agenda.
Economists and environmentalists suggest that households (similar to industries) should also be offered financial incentives if their electricity consumption in summer is less than the consumption model announced by the government.
