Iran Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (Tavanir) is importing at least 700 megawatts of electricity per day from neighboring states, including Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Armenia, to meet the growing electricity demand.
Mostafa Rajabi-Mashhadi, the head of Iran Grid Management Company, an Energy Ministry subsidiary, noted that daily import has increased since the beginning of June and is three times more compared to that of previous months when the figure was barely 200 MW, Barq News website reported.
“Power demand peaked at 64,000 MW on June 24, up 5% compared with the same day of 2021, and it is expected to reach 71 gigawatts in July, up 6% compared to a year ago,” he said.
“On the other hand, power exports to Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan have reduced and reached less than 400 MW in the 25-day period.”
To cope with growing domestic demand, which has soared to record-high levels in recent days (64 GW), Tavanir has reduced power export from around 2,000 MW to 400 MW during peak hours, 1-5 p.m.
"If necessary, we will totally halt exports in the scorching days of summer," he said.
Iran's installed electricity capacity is currently around 85,000 MW.
Giving a breakdown on power consumption, the official noted that industries, households, agro sector and commercial units constitute 38%, 32%, 18% and 7% of the total electricity use in Iran respectively.
Public places like parks, walkways and bus stations account for the rest.
“Consumption has reduced by at least 5,000 megawatts [during peak hours], as industries and farmers uphold their commitment with Tavanir,” he said.
Billing Discount
Rajabi-Mashhadi stressed that industries and the agro sector account for 55% or 32,000 MW (per day) of the total power consumption that is now above 45,000 MW and rising, adding that those who comply with the policy will be eligible for a discount in billing.
In 2020 and 2021, as per Tavanir’s contracts with 300,000 farmers and industrialists, those who turned off their water pumps and electricity-intensive equipment between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. received discounts.
The policy helped cut consumption in the agro sector by at least 2,000 MW.
Of the total number of Tavanir’s household subscribers (30 million), 5% or 1.5 million families are heavy consumers whose consumption exceeds 300 kilowatts per month and they account for 40% of Iran’s overall electricity use, he added.
According to the official, although the country's installed capacity has increased in proportion to the annual economic growth, it is still not sufficient to meet the heavy domestic demand.
Rajabi-Mashhadi noted that due to the unprecedented low precipitation, last winter’s output from 60 hydroelectric power plants in Iran has declined by at least 130% compared to a year ago.
The production level, which was around 10,000 MW last year, has declined to 4,000 MW.
The shortfall means added pressure on thermal power stations and/or frequent outages. Hydroelectric plants have an annual output of 12,000 GWh when dams are full, but they produce less because dams are usually half empty.
Production from hydroelectric units is designed according to projected water conditions. The rise or fall in output depends directly on water levels in dams.
“In order to not rely on hydroelectric power stations at critical times [summer], power plants with a generation capacity of 10,000 MW should be constructed, for which more than $9 billion should be invested,” Rajabi-Mashhadi said.
Referring to ongoing projects to increase Tavanir’s generation capacity, he added that close to 3,500 MW have been added to the national grid’s output since May and 2,500 MW will be added by August.
Viable Option
According to Arash Kordi, the head of Tavanir, the synchronization of the electricity grids of Iran and Russia is the most viable and inexpensive option to help ease frequent power cuts during the hot summer days when power load maximizes in Iran.
“Iran needs to synchronize its power grid with that of Russia because otherwise it has to invest billions of dollars to construct new power stations to bridge the widening gap between supply and demand,” he added.
According to the official, electricity demand peaks in Iran between June and September, and this is when Russia’s demand declines and the surplus can be imported to Iran.
He reiterated that the national grid cannot carry a load higher than 64 GW and that is why rolling blackouts (load shedding) is on Tavanir’s agenda to compensate the shortfall.
According to Kordi, with the rise in temperature in the coming weeks, more power will be used but currently there is no problem regarding electricity generation.
