Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 17
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran may face power outages due to an anticipated upsurge in electricity consumption following the elimination of sanctions against the country.
Currently Iran's 50-GW actual power generation hardly meets domestic consumption, while the usage level is expected to increase by 18 to 20 percent in the industrial sector after lifting the sanctions, Mahammadali Zamankhani an official from the country's Ministry of Energy told Mehr News Agency August 17.
Although Iran's power generation capacity is around 73.5 GW, the actual power output is less than 58 GW as the country wastes 14 to 18 percent power in its distribution and electricity network.
According to the Energy Ministry's official statistics, some 219 billion kWh of electricity energy was consumed domestically during last fiscal year, ended on March 21, of which 74.645 billion kwh in industrial units.
The country's net electricity export stood at 2.178 billion kWh during last year.
Zamankhani said that Iran is producing 50 GW power and the country's electricity grid would not be able to distribute more electricity without new investments.
Iran and the group called P5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) reached a final deal - also called the Joint Plan of Action or JCPOA - on Iran's nuclear program on July 14.
It's expected that the agreement will be implemented by the end of current year after being ratified in Congress and Iran's parliament as well as when the international Atomic Energy Agency confirms that Iran is cooperating with this UN body based on mutual agreement between Iran and IAEA, achieved simultaneously with JCPOA.
Edited by CN