The Energy Ministry announced that power plants nationwide have increased the use of gas feedstock by 5% over the past four and a half months compared with that of the corresponding period of last year (ended March 19, 2016).
Based on a report by Iran Grid Management Company, consumption of mazut and diesel has declined by 3% and 2% respectively in the same period, indicating that Iranian power plants are stepping toward replacing polluting fuels with natural gas as a cleaner energy resource, IRNA reported.
The power plants’ equivalent energy consumption has witnessed a rise of 2.2% year-on-year.
The ministry had earlier said last year’s total gas consumed in Iranian power plants amounted to 57.298 billion cubic meters, which was a record high and 14.2% higher than its previous year.
The government has consistently increased gas supply to power plants, as part of efforts to reduce diesel and mazut consumption and curb pollution.
It delivered 50 bcm of gas to power plants in 2014-15 from 35 bcm in 2013-14, saving over $6 billion.
Iran retained its position as the world's third-largest gas producer in 2015 after the US and Russia, following a 5.7% rise in production compared to 2014, BP said in its annual report.
According to BP, Iran sits on the world's largest natural gas reserves.
Power Consumption
Iran’s total electricity consumption in the week ending August 5 was over 7.31 million megawatt-hours, which showed a 1.9% rise compared to the previous week. It was almost unchanged from the same period last year.
The week’s peak was reported at 49,066 MW at night, 0.68% less than that of its previous week but 1.86% more than last year’s electricity peak during the corresponding span.
Likewise, the country’s maximum power consumption was 50,091 MW in days of the said week, showing a 2.79% drop compared to the previous week and a 0.4% growth in comparison with last year’s similar period.
Iran’s electricity industry ranks 14th in the world and first in the Middle East in terms of electricity generation with an installed power generation capacity of 75,000 MW.
