Tehran, Iran, July 10
By Kamyar Eghbalnejad, A. Shirazi - Trend:
A member of Iran Electricity Industry Syndicate said the country is facing a power shortage across the country due to lack of foreign and domestic investment in the sector of electricity.
"Every year in Iran, we are witnessing a seven percent rise in popular demand for electricity which is equal to 5,000 megawatts (MW)," Payam Baqeri told Trend.
We are facing sporadic outages in the country due to national power shortage, he added, noting that every year investment is made for generating 2,000 MW of electricity.
The Iranian official further criticized annual budget proposal for the country’s energy and said, "This budget cut has brought about more liabilities for the Ministry of Energy".
Furthermore, foreign investors have stopped financing Iran’s sector of renewable energies as the government has failed to clear their dues.
The ministry should also pay 300,000 billion rials to domestic banks and the country’s private sector, Baqeri said.
We are facing a shortfall in popular demand as there is no domestic and foreign investment, he went on to add.
Baqeri also described loopholes in the law as another reason for the shortage, saying that the law does not allow the ministry to raise energy prices and that is why it cannot clear its dues.
To manage Tehran's growing electricity demand in summer, over 60 projects should be carried out at a cost of 8 trillion rials (about $200 million).
The Energy Ministry plans to add 3,000 MW to the national grid to guarantee sustainable electricity supply along with an anticipated rise in demand across all sectors.
National electricity demand is forecast to exceed 57,000 MW next summer, as people turn on air-conditioners to alleviate simmering temperatures.
Iran's power demand hit a historic high of 55,400 MW in July, up from about 53,000 MW in the fiscal 2016-17.