Ministry Bemoans Excessive Water, Power Consumption

The caretaker energy minister last week outlined an unsurprising uptrend in Iran’s water and electricity use, rendering as insufficient government efforts and public pleas to a population of 80 million to rein in water and electricity consumption.

“Water and electricity consumption rose 2.5% and 7.4% respectively in [the first half of] the current fiscal year [started March 21] compared with the similar period in the last fiscal,” Sattar Mahmoudi was also quoted as saying by ISNA.

Referring to unrestrained growth in water consumption of 1-2.5% annually in the last few years, Mahmoudi stressed that daily consumption reached 20 million cubic meters on some days in the present fiscal, indicating a 3.4% rise from the average.

“Iran’s rate of precipitation in the 2016-17 water year was normal but some provinces, such as Khuzestan, Yazd, Semnan, South Khorasan, Kerman and Khorasan Razavi, faced serious water shortage in summer,” he said.

According to the official, the precipitation rate dropped by 55% and 48% in Ilam and Khuzestan provinces in western and southwestern Iran respectively in the past water year compared to the previous year.

“However, the number of Iranian cities facing water tension decreased from 310 to 290,” he said.

Mahmoudi noted that the only upside about rising consumption is the higher demand in the industrial sector.

“Although the rising use in the industrial sector piles pressure on the Energy Ministry to meet demand, the increase implies that domestic industries are expanding,” he added.

Mahmoud Reza Haqifam, a deputy manager at Iran Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company, said energy consumption in Iran is 4.4 times higher than the global average.

Mahmoudi also said the ministry plans to add 3,000 megawatts to the country’s total power generation capacity in the next fiscal, which will guarantee sustainable electricity supply along with an anticipated rise in demand across all sectors.

“The government in the last four years has reduced power wastage from 15.7% to below 11%,” he said.

Mahmoudi announced plans to lower the wastage rate to 8.5% by 2021, which marks the end of President Hassan Rouhani’s second and last term in office.

The achievement can help curb electricity load across the national network and load shedding in big cities. In addition to environmental advantages, the reduction in power wastage is a great economic achievement, as it can cut costs substantially.