More than 98% of the population in Tehran Province have access to natural gas, managing director of the provincial gas company said.
“In the last Iranian year [March 2020-21], Tehran Gas Company completed 463 kilometers of distribution network and had more than 124,000 new subscribers,” Saeed Tavakkoli was also quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry’s news agency Shana.
Gas supply to 20 villages was completed last year and 35 more villages will be connected to the gas grid by the end of the current fiscal year (March 2022), he added.
Tavakkoli said currently, 49 cities and 539 villages of the province have access to natural gas.
“The urban gas supply coverage is 99.9% and the figure for rural gas supply is about 97.5%,” he added.
According to the official, the number of gas meters in the household sector grew by 45% (1 million) in the past eight years in Tehran Province alone.
“Household gas subscribers in the province were 2.2 million in 2012, which has now surpassed 3.2 million,” he added.
He noted that the number of meters in industries reached 290,000, up 70% compared to 2012, adding that the province accounts for 12% of total gas consumption in Iran.
According to the National Iranian Gas Company data, the fuel comprises 68% of the energy mix in the metropolis.
Close to 2,100 kilometers of pipelines have been laid in the eight years to expedite piped-gas supply to rural districts, namely Sulqan and Kan districts located northwest of Tehran.
Referring to the length of Iran's gas pipelines, Tavkakoli said it was 36,000 km in 2016 and expanded by 4,000 km in four years.
“By 2025, the length of Iran’s gas pipelines should increase by another 9,000 km and the annual gas supply capacity is projected to reach 400 billion cubic meters,” he added.
West Azarbaijan Gas Supply
Over 400 kilometers of gas network in the West Azarbaijan Province have been installed since the beginning of the current year and now more than 85% of the population in the northwestern province are linked to the gas grid, managing director of the provincial Gas Company said.
“Currently, the length of the gas network in the province has exceeded 16,400 kilometers,” Alireza Sheikhi was quoted as saying by Shana.
“More than 96% of the urban population and about 72% of rural households have access to gas and with the completion of gas supply projects to villages throughout the province, the figure will reach 90% soon.”
The province covers 40,000 square kilometers and has a population of 3.3 million, a third of which lives on the outskirts of cities and in rural areas.
The climate of the province is largely influenced by humid winds blowing from the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Cold northern winds impact the province during winters with heavy snowfall.
With the mercury dropping to below freezing conditions, supplying gas to households for heating is a crucial task.
Iran holds the world’s second largest gas reserves after Russia and the clean fossil fuel is its single biggest source of energy.
Iran’s daily gas production capacity is 1 billion cubic meters. The volume of leakage in gas pipelines is estimated at 13 mcm/d, or less than 2.5%.
