The increase in supply of gas to power plants in the March-September period saved $5 billion in costs, deputy oil minister and the managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company Hamidreza Araghi said.
Gas supply to power plants amounted to 33 billion cubic meters during the March-September period, 7.7 billion more than the same period last year. As a result of replacing gas with other fuels for the consumption of power plants, Iran reduced fuel consumption by a solid $5 billion.
Reduction of gas supply to power plants translates into importing 100 million liters of diesel fuel per day ($100 million). Therefore, optimizing consumption among households and increasing the supply to power plants generates value added and significantly reduces the outflow of hard currency, according to Araghi.
Gas supply to power plants in winter is expected to reach an average of 50 million cubic meters per day, Shana reported.
NIGC supplied 36 billion cubic meters of gas to power plants in the previous Iranian calendar year (March 2013-March 2014).
Fuel consumption in power plants and industries during winter stands at 160 and 50 million cubic meters per day respectively. In summer, for power plants, the figure is 220 million, while for industries the figure is constant during both warm and cold periods.
The planning manager of NIGC Hassan Montazer Torbati had announced earlier that the production of gas in the upstream sector will reach 80-100 million cubic meters per day and gas supply to power plants will total 42 billion cubic meters.
Increasing gas supply to industries and power plants, among other things, helps create a sustainable economy and reduce pollution.
NIGC is to increase gas consumption at power plants and industries to lessen pollution and also reduce mazut and diesel fuel consumption.
