As long as electricity demand is not managed sustainably, other strategies on the supply side, namely construction of power stations and import of electricity, will be futile, a professor at the Sharif University of Technology said.
“Increasing the number of gas and steam-powered thermal facilities requires massive investment and it has proven to be an unsustainable supply-oriented management policy that can do very little to ease the growing power crisis,” ILNA also quoted Hashem Oraei as saying.
If demand, which has currently reached 65 gigawatts, is not managed effectively and energy efficiency plans are not taken seriously, the more output rises, the more consumption is likely to boost and the vicious cycle will never end, he added.
The professor stressed that no matter how much power is generated or can be imported from neighboring states, namely Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, as long as the precious commodity is not used prudently, other strategies on the supply side is very unlikely to yield the desired result.
Oraei, who also heads the Renewable Energy Union, believes that burning mazut in thermal power stations to produce power will not only harm the ecosystem but would also raise unrealistic hope among households and industrialists, and discourage them from rethinking their unsustainable and wasteful practices.
“Short-term supply-side management policies should be replaced with long-term demand-oriented management plans like adopting power-efficient technologies, tapping into renewable resources and investing in energy efficiency plans,” he said.
Raising public awareness, promoting wise consumption patterns and updating obsolete systems and equipment should be given higher priority.
Growing Demand
For more than half a century, policymakers in Tehran have been busy with the supply side of the precious resource and hundreds of dams and power plants were built in the hope of addressing growing demand.
It turned out that, then as now, the policy was not enough and failed to serve their intended purpose.
A workable strategy demands the efficient use of available power that involves a paradigm shift from conventional supply management to demand management – an approach conspicuous by its absence.
What is making the rounds in economic and political corridors is the undeniable truth that so long as demand is not controlled and reduced, boosting production of gas or other forms of energy will not solve the burgeoning problem of high consumption and waste.
One measure crucial for managing the rising energy demand is investment in energy efficiency plans – a core issue pushed on the periphery in countries like Iran due to lack of vision and responsible policymaking.
Energy efficiency is simply defined as utilizing less energy to perform the same task by eliminating waste.
Energy efficiency brings a variety of benefits like reducing greenhouse gas emissions, cutting imports and lowering costs for households and the economy at large.
While renewable energy technology can help accomplish some of the goals, improving energy efficiency is and will be the best and cheapest way to cut the use of fossil fuels, including natural gas. There are enormous opportunities for efficiency improvement in all economic sectors, be it buildings, transportation, industries, or power plants.
“Substituting oil and gas with clean energy and using green power should be a priority to, among other things, get rid of the costly, wasteful and unsustainable energy subsidies,” Oraei said.
“Iran is the only country where 20% of its annual GDP [$100 billion] are spent on energy consumption subsidies, while the world's total direct energy subsidies, including for fossil fuels, are estimated at $400 billion.”
The professor noted that supplying low efficiency power plants (20%) natural gas as feedstock is a clear indication that energy is neither valued nor conserved in Iran.
“Gas should be converted to added-value goods in the key petrochemical sector instead of being wasted in Rey, Besat and Tarasht power plants that should have been decommissioned 20 years ago,” he said.
Of the five power stations in Tehran, three have efficiency levels less than 25% for more than two decades and this means 75% of gas feedstock turn into heat and toxic emissions.
“Even if the power plants have higher efficiency [60%], the electricity they produce is wasted in homes for heating purposes without contributing to GDP.”
Shifting to Renewables
The professor, who chairs the Wind Energy Scientific Society, noted that shifting to renewables is fast becoming a norm in most countries (including oil-rich states) as they face massive ecological problems, namely global warming caused by fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emission.
However, in Iran, the authorities still insist on constructing more thermal power plants and raising their efficiency from 20-30% with little action on expanding green power.
Iran's installed power capacity is 85 gigawatts, of which less than 1 GW comes from renewables such as solar and wind.
Iran’s northwestern neighbor Turkey is increasing electricity production from renewables that account for 13 gigawatts of the country's total power output of 89 GW. India’s renewable capacity is said to be 79 GW, Japan 32 GW while the UAE generates 15% or 8 GW of power from green resources.
“Iran’s annual gas consumption in the household sector has surpassed 200 billion cubic meters. Moving toward renewable energy can help reduce it to 40 bcm,” Oraei said, complaining that those who decide energy policy in Tehran remain oblivious to simple arithmetic.
Almost 98% of Iran’s power production come from oil derivatives and gas. This is while most countries are revisiting energy policies and moving toward renewables to reduce their CO2 footprint, cut costs and healthcare bills and save resources for future generations.
Failure to do likewise (divest from fossil fuel) means Iran’s energy crisis will exacerbate and over time become irreversible, he warned.
