Iran’s Thermal Power Plants Holding Company (TPPH) says electricity generation capacity from the country’s thermal power plants has reached nearly 73 gigawatts (GW).
Electricity use in Iran has peaked to an annual high of 50 megawatts (MW) per hour as authorities expect the consumption to rise in the coming days with a warm spell driving up cooling demand across the country.
Iran has launched a major power plant in its largest island in the Persian Gulf amid efforts to boost investment in the region.
The Iranian energy ministry is planning to launch several new power plants in coming months to keep up with increasing demands for electricity that could cause a shortage of 10 gigawatts (GW) over the peak Summer days.
As peak summer demand peters out, electricity exports to Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, which were halted to help stabilize power supply in summer, has resumed, a deputy energy minister said.
Iran Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (Tavanir) said steel and cement factories can operate from 12:00 midnight to 8:00 am and cut their electricity consumption by half.
Recurring blackouts and constraints in the supply of raw materials hampered business activity in Iran during the calendar month of Khordad (May 22 - June 21), according purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data released by the Iran Chamber of Commerce.
The Iranian government has decided to significantly reduce electricity supplies to industries as it struggles to minimize power outages in large cities during the current summer heat wave.
Head of Iran’s state electricity company Tavanir has blamed a fresh surge in illegal crypto mining activity in the country as a main cause of shortage in power supplies during hot summer days.
Iran is using limited supplies of electricity from neighboring Azerbaijan to prevent a recurrence of brief power cuts that surprised the households in large cities last month.