The whole national power grid, including power plants, transmission substations and distribution networks, is functioning under tremendous pressure and this has put the entire system on the verge of total collapse.
Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, spokesman of Iran Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (Tavanir), said as long as demand exceeds output, unscheduled outages will continue across the country, Barq News reported.
Referring to frequent power cuts over the past few days which have caused widespread dissatisfaction among subscribers, Rajabi noted that to prevent damaging the network, all transmission and distribution lines are equipped with voltage- and frequency-relays that cuts the electricity automatically as soon as the load across the network surpasses certain amount in a certain region.
“Although Tavanir is doing its best to inform subscribers in advance, unplanned outages will be unavoidable when the demand exceeds production,” he said.
According to the official, the high pressure on the grid has already inflicted serious damage on the network and some power generating units have gone off the grid.
“If this continues, there will be disastrous consequences and power cuts will be more frequent,” he said.
Unprecedented Record
Iran’s electricity consumption reached an unprecedented record of 66,000 megawatts on Monday at 1 p.m. The new record comes as high temperatures nationwide has driven electricity consumption to new heights.
The new figure (66 gigawatts) shows a 25% growth (12,000 MW) compared to the same time and day a year ago. Electricity consumption on June 30 surpassed 64,000 MW.
Last July, electricity consumption in Iran exceeded 58,000 MW, registering the highest power consumption recorded in the country.
Iran’s southern cities are experiencing a 51-degree Celsius temperature and the capital Tehran’s temperature has reached 41 degrees Celsius.
Rajabi noted that power supply to hospitals will never be disrupted unless there is a major technical problem.
All medical centers are equipped with diesel generators that starts producing electricity as soon as national grid faces a problem.
Blackouts are not new in Iran, where an aging and subsidized electricity sector is plagued by alleged mismanagement.
Cryptocurrency Farms
But this time, government officials say bitcoin mining at cryptocurrency farms — the energy-intensive business of using large collections of computers to verify digital coin transactions — is partly to blame.
Nonetheless, cryptocurrency researchers in Tehran, including Ziya Sadr, says the miners have nothing to do with the blackouts.
“Mining is a very small percentage of the overall electricity capacity in Iran. It is a known fact that mismanagement and the terrible condition of the electricity grid in Iran and the outdated equipment of power plants in Iran cannot support the grid,” he said.
The government itself has pointed to cheap electricity rates, enabled by government subsidies, as another major cause of the blackouts.
A member of the board of Iranian Blockchain Association told IRNA that the electricity used by cybercurrency miners in Iran was estimated to be equal to the electricity lost by the network during transmission.
According to Mohammad Parsa, the head of the Federation of Iranian Energy Export Industries, Iran’s power industry has not developed as expected in the last eight years.
“Close to 4,000 megawatts were added to the national grid per annum between 2006 and 2013. Between 2014 and 2020, this volume fell by a massive 50%,” he added.
Parsa said unending volatility in the domestic currency market has understandably made private companies averse to investing in power production over the last four years.
“New investment by private power producers is almost zero now and the country will suffer the consequences in the future,” he said.
The official noted that the number of electricity meters nationwide in household, agro and industrial sectors, which now exceeds 37 million, jumps by 1 million a year and lack of investment in the industry will not only hamper economic development but also impede normal life in rural and urban areas.
“As long as private companies have to spend 1.5 cents on producing a kilowatt of electricity and sell it at 0.2 cent, no investment will be made in the sector, not at least in the foreseeable future,” he said, echoing the stance of economic and energy experts across the spectrum.
