TEHRAN (Iran News) – Over 990MW of overhauled power plants to come on stream in summer. Thermal Power Plants Holding Company (TPPH) has announced that overhaul operations of 992-megawatt (MW) capacity of power plants will be finished soon and the mentioned plants will come on stream for the summertime peak consumption period.
The company has announced that the overhauled power plants will be put into operation gradually and before the peak consumption period in summer (starts on June 22 based on the Iranian calendar), IRNA reported.
Hot weather, reduced production of hydropower plants due to water shortage, increased activities of illegal cryptocurrency miners, as well as the coronavirus pandemic, have caused the Energy Ministry to face some challenges in meeting the electricity demands in the summer peak period.
In this regard, the ministry has been implementing several programs for preventing electricity shortages and blackouts in the hot season.
Accelerating the completion of annual overhaul operations of power plants has been one of the mentioned programs that have been considered for boosting power supply.
Signing agreements with industrial and agricultural sectors for reducing the electricity consumption by these sectors has been also another program that the ministry is implementing.
Also, the reduction of electricity exports is considered as another solution to meet the domestic electricity demand during the summertime.
“In some cases, and based on existing contracts, the electricity exports, came close to zero,” Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian has said.
According to the official, the government is also negotiating with some neighboring countries including Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia for increasing electricity imports in the summer.
Iran’s Deputy Energy Minister for Electricity Affairs Homayoun Haeri announced on May 19, that power consumption in the country rose 7,000-8,000 megawatts (MW) since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21) up to the mentioned date, as compared to the same period of time in the past year.
Although every year nearly 3,000 MW is added to the country’s power generation capacity, the reduction in the rainfalls and the decline in the water storage behind the dams has reduced the electricity generation offsetting the added capacity, the official said.
