Power supply restrictions on industries, including steel and cement factories, have been removed, a spokesperson for the Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (Tavanir) said.
“Electricity supply curbs in steel and cement factories, which were introduced over the last 40 days due to high summer demand, have all been removed,” Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
Rajabi added that power demand peaked at 67,000 megawatts in July.
“Tavanir’s maximum power generation capacity is 60 gigawatts, yet demand was far beyond that. Hence, the deficit had to be compensated by imposing restrictions on industries and power outages that, of course, affected industrial and household sectors,” he said.
“Now that temperature is declining and demand has reduced to 54,000 MW, industries are allowed to use as much electricity as they need.”
Peak demand in industrial sector reached 5,150 MW on Tuesday at 2 p.m., indicating a rise of 10% compared to the same day and time a year ago.
According to the spokesman, the household sector’s demand reached a peak of 52,800 MW on Tuesday at 2 p.m.
“Last year’s demand in the sector at the same day and time stood at 50,000 MW.”
Tavanir reduced power export from around 2,000 MW to less than 500 MW during peak hours (1-5 p.m.). It exports power to Pakistan, Turkey, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Under the swap deals, Iran exports electricity to Armenia and Azerbaijan in winter and imports in summer when domestic demand soars.
Rajabi noted that 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.
Iran has exported close to 65 billion kilowatt hours of electricity to Iraq since 2004 worth $6.2 billion, of which $5.2 billion have been paid.
Economic Development
The spokesman further said that as the number of electricity meters jumps by half a million per year, lack of investment will not only hamper economic development but could also hinder normal life.
The installed power capacity of 60 GW is not enough to meet current demand and lack of investment is causing distress, as the key sector has already faced shortages, he added.
Power consumption in Iran grows by 5-6% per year, but expansion plans have been undermined by financial restraints, management issues and the dominance of energy subsidies.
The Energy Ministry repaid $900 million in debt to private contractors in 2019, but still owes $3 billion.
Referring to subscribers’ debt to the Tehran Regional Power Company, Rajabi said the amount is $17 million, a big portion of which are bills unpaid by state companies and organizations. He did not name names, nor say why the debts are still pending.
