Power consumption in Iran was near 60 gigawatts on June 6, which is unprecedented for this time of the year, spokesman of the electricity sector said.
“The figure reached 59,892 megawatts on Monday, which is 5 GW higher than consumption on the same day of last year,” Mostafa Rajabi-Mashhadi was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
“Several places in the country experienced brief power cuts over technical issues that occurred in the grid,” he added.
The new peak in electricity consumption in Iran comes amid rising temperatures in different regions before the beginning of summer, which has caused a surge in cooling demand.
It is predicted that the demand for electricity will hit an all-time record of 67 GW over the summer months.
Government offices in some provinces have been ordered to open earlier in the mornings and close at midday to help reduce power use on warm days.
Iran has experienced imbalances in supply and demand for electricity over the past three years mainly because of a surge in energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining and a heavier use of natural gas in manufacturing and household sectors that has caused power plants to operate at lower capacity.
High cryptocurrency prices and subsidized electrical power have lured many Iranians toward crypto mining over the past years.
Vast amounts of electricity are used through the so-called blockchain process to generate valuable digital assets like bitcoin.
Thousands of illegal mining rigs have been confiscated in the country. According to Iranian government estimates, illegal mining operations burn around 2,000 MW per day.
Low rainfall is another factor contributing to the power imbalance, which has impacted hydroelectricity production. As a result, less electricity is generated by the hydroelectric power plants.
To help reduce consumption and prevent possible blackouts, home subscribers can follow three simple solutions. They can do so by operating evaporative coolers at low speed, setting the temperature of split air-conditioners to 25 degrees and avoid using appliances with high electricity consumption during peak hours [13-18 p.m.].
