Electricity consumption in Iran increased by 4% from the beginning of Norouz (Iranian New Year that started on March 21) until April 4 compared with the same period of last year, managing director of Iran Grid Management Company said.
“Over 10 billion kilowatt hours of electricity were used during the Norouz holidays,” IRNA also quoted Mostafa Rajabi-Mashhadi as saying.
The rise in consumption was recorded in provinces where more people traveled to as well as in industrial regions, he added.
“The highest electricity consumption in the two-week period was recorded in the provinces of Tehran, Fars and Zanjan. Kermanshah, Semnan and Sistan-Baluchestan were the three provinces with the lowest growth of power consumption,” he added.
According to Rajabi-Mashhadi, with the rise in temperature in the coming weeks, more power will be used but currently there is no problem regarding electricity generation.
All repair and maintenance of the country's thermal power plants are expected to be completed by the end of May so that all units are fully prepared for operating in summer when consumption surges dramatically, said a deputy manager at Iran's Thermal Power Plants Holding Company, a subsidiary of the Energy Ministry.
“The overhaul programs have registered 73% progress so far and will be completed in about two months,” Nasser Eskandari was also quoted as saying by the Energy Ministry’s news portal Paven.
Overhaul starts every year in September and ends in May of the following year to help ensure sustainable supply during peak demand.
Generation Capacity to Rise
The overhaul programs will add about 1,000 megawatts to the current generation capacity of power plants, which stands at 85,000 MW.
The capacity will be added to the existing power plants by using knowledge-based methods without injecting fuel and investment.
Although the installed capacity is 85 gigawatts, a lot less is actually produced, especially in the hot seasons due to wastage, technical problems and restrictions, as power plants are usually not allowed to operate at full capacity.
Another 5,000 MW are also expected to be added to the installed capacity.
“Several gas and steam units with a total capacity of 4,500 MW are under construction and will be operational by summer,” Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian said.
“We anticipate 500 MW of renewable power stations to be connected to the network in the next two months. The renewable power stations will be of different types, including solar, wind and biomass.”
Mehrabian noted that given the deficit in electricity production compared to the demand in the past summer, which led to power outages across the country, it was necessary to meet the shortages.
“Hence, we have planned to build several thermal and renewable power plants, and upgrade the existing ones to increase their production capacity in the next four years,” he said.
“The required budget for the projects is provided by private investors, banks and the National Development Fund of Iran.”
The Energy Ministry is making efforts so that there will be no power shortages and blackouts during summer.
Alongside these development programs, officials have been encouraging households and industries to use power more judiciously.
Experts say the experience of developed countries shows that the only solution to compel subscribers to stay away from overconsumption and waste is higher prices.
According to the Energy Ministry, higher electricity tariffs for consumers, who exceed normal consumption limits, took effect in January.
