TEHRAN, Iran, April 25. Iran is predicted to face a 14,000-megawatt power shortage in summer, the head of parliament's energy commission Parviz Mohammad Nejad told Trend.
"Iran has supplied mazut and gasoline to 18 power plants in the last Iranian year(started March 21, 2021) to prevent power outage in winter, however, there would defiantly be power shortage in summer," he said.
He went on to say that the country's power consumption will increase in the current Iranian year(started March 21, 2022) which partly is due to rising cryptocurrency mining and damages to the power network.
He pointed out the Energy Minister's comment on the 19,000-megawatt power shortage and efforts to compensate 6,000-megawatt deficit, saying that only 4,000 megawatts can be retrieved and there will be a 14,000-megawatt shortage that will lead to planned outages in summer.
"The minister has promised to solve the issue of power outage in summer but in our opinion, it is impossible to reduce the outage to zero therefore the parliament has obligated the Energy Ministry to prepare all generators in the private power plants and oil and petrochemical refineries for the possible shortage," he noted.
He stressed that the private sector power plants can generate 2,800 megawatts of electricity and public offices can reduce consumption by 6,000-megawatt power to secure energy
Iran has a synchronized power and gas network with neighboring countries to supply energy in an emergency, so it can export and import when needed.
The country is currently trading electricity with Turkmenistan, Iraq, Nakhchivan, Afghanistan, and Azerbaijan.
According to the MP, Iran's electricity export reduced in the last year from 2,000 megawatts to 300 megawatts and the total export and import is not significant to effect outages