Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian said poor energy consumption habits inflict hefty economic losses on the country and should be changed through efficient strategies.
"The nation's rate of electricity consumption rises by 5-7% or 5,000 megawatts each year," Ardakanian was also quoted as saying by ILNA on Wednesday.
"The rising demand forces Energy Ministry to provide new facilities to compensate the shortages, which cost the country over 250 trillion rials [$595 million at the official rate]," he added.
The minister said the hefty amount is spent on building new power plants to meet the 150-200 hours of summer peak. The official underlined the need to overhaul consumption models and raise public and organizational awareness, instead of trying to find new energy sources.
The sizzling season has always been challenging for the country's electricity and water sectors. Iran’s electricity consumption reached a peak of 52,786 MW on Monday, indicating a rise of 4,562 MW compared with last year's corresponding period.
According to Mahmoud Reza Haqifam, a deputy at Iran Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company, electricity consumption is expected to reach a peak of 58,000 megawatts in the current fiscal year (started March 21), which will be 2,600 MW more than that of last year.
"The government has invested over $2 billion on expansion of power stations for producing only 3,000 megawatts of electricity by summer, of which 2,000 MW have been added to the grid," he said.
Hossein Sabouri, the chief executive officer of Tehran Province Electricity Distribution Company, said on Tuesday his company is trying to renovate the province's dilapidated power grid to help curb power wastage.
"We have allocated some 1 trillion rials [$23.8 million] to optimize the Tehran's electricity infrastructures and power grid," he said.
High Water Consumption
Ardakanian said the water issue is no different from that of the electricity sector.
He stressed the need to focus on adopting pragmatic approaches for the promotion of judicious water consumption.
"As long as the consumption models do not improve, finding new water resources will not be the best remedy," he added.
According to the minister, Iran has been actively engaged in projects to fulfill its commitments in this field.
Gripped by low rainfall, persistent drought and dwindling water resources, Iran is facing a severe shortage of water. Its agriculture sector suffers from outdated cultivation and irrigation methods that require unacceptably huge amounts of water.
Official data show that more than 90% of Iran's water resources are used in the agriculture sector with a mere 30% efficiency, which pales in comparison to the global average of 75%.
Pointing to Iran's critical water situation, Ardakanian said, "In the past four decades, several factors, including high population growth and unregulated agriculture, have worsened the issue."
