To optimize power consumption in industrial units, the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran and the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization (Satba) have signed a contract to replace dilapidated industrial electromotor with hi-tech electrical machines, a deputy manager at IDRO said.
“Of the total power consumed in industries, close to 67% are used by electric motors that have outlived their usefulness,” Farshad Moqimi was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
Industries consume close to 110,000 gigawatt hours of power annually, of which two-thirds are wasted in electric motors that are not energy-efficient and waste a huge amount of electricity, he added.
Moqimi noted that as per the deal, in the first phase of the plan, IDRO is obliged to reduce consumption by 1,000 megawatts hours over the next six months by substituting old devices with new ones.
The comprehensive plan is aimed at reducing power consumption in industrial units by 5,000 GW hours over the next four years.
The completion of the first phase of the plan will also help curb natural gas consumption by 277 million cubic meters per year and curtail pollutants like CO2 and nitrogen oxides (NOx).
An industrial electric motor is an electrical machine that converts energy into motion. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a wire winding to generate force in the form of torque applied to the motor's shaft.
Electric motors can be powered by direct current (DC) sources, such as batteries, or by alternating current (AC) sources like a power grid, inverters, or electrical generators.
Industrial electric motors may be classified by considerations such as power source type, internal construction, application and type of motion output.
Cultural Awareness
According to Saeed Mohazab Torabi, the head of the Iran Association of Energy Service Companies, lack of access to cutting-edge technology in household and industrial sectors, and the absence of cultural awareness regarding energy optimization have placed Iran among the most energy inefficient nations.
“Households use at least 35% of the total electricity generated in Iran, which can decline to 20% if energy-intensive appliances are replaced with energy-efficient equipment,” he said.
The official stated that there are 300,000 wells in the agro sector, all equipped with pumps, but thanks to outdated technology, a massive amount of power goes to waste in the sector.
According to Torabi, energy intensity will not decline unless new laws are adopted, especially regarding low power prices.
Electricity, like water, gasoline, gas and some foods, are subsidized in Iran – a decades-old economic policy the government cannot afford, but is hesitant to reverse.
Power generation in Iran costs at least 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, but consumers pay less than 1 cent per kWh.
Disparities between real electricity production costs, including generation and transmission, and the revenue of the state-run Iran Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company are so huge that raising tariffs even by 20% cannot help.
Torabi stressed that as long as promoting the cultural awareness of the society is not a priority and families and industrial units are deprived of high-tech energy-efficient devices due to sanctions and massive inflation, increasing the prices cannot be an effective remedy.
Energy Intensity
Energy intensity is a measure of energy efficiency calculated as units of energy per unit of gross domestic product. High energy intensity indicates a high price or cost of converting energy into GDP and vice versa.
Close to 2.4% of the world's energy, equal to the energy produced by burning 3.6 million barrels of oil per day, are produced in Iran and 1.8% of the total energy are consumed.
Iran’s energy intensity is three times higher than the global average and 2.5 times the Middle East average. Following countries like Russia and Saudi Arabia with energy intensity indices at 0.53% and 0.5% respectively, Iran is ranked third with 0.63%.
"Iran's energy intensity was 0.8% in 2015, an equivalent of 6,000 barrels of oil," Hamed Houri Jafari, an advisor to Iranian Fuel Conservation Organization, said.
In the same period, Japan, South Korea, China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE had intensities of 0.1% (0.733 barrels), 0.2% (1.466 barrels), 0.27% (1.97 barrels), 0.4% (2.93 barrels) and 0.12% (0.87 barrels) respectively.
Iran’s household sector consumes an equivalent of 1 million barrels of oil per day that is nearly eight times that of the most energy-efficient countries.
