Official: Iran relies on fossil fuels for 92% of its electricity generation

Iran relies on fossil fuels for more than 92% of its electricity production, according to a deputy oil minister who says the country has serious plans to expand the share of renewables in its energy mix.

News ID: 2002303

Omid Shakeri, Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister for Engineering, Research and Technology, said on Tuesday that the country’s power plants consume over 94 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas annually, up from about 63 bcm in 2012.

He noted that declining efficiency in Iran’s thermal power plants, combined with rising natural gas demand in other sectors of the economy, has sharply increased reliance on low-cost fuels such as mazut in the electricity sector.

Shakeri added that both the Oil Ministry and the government are determined to boost renewable energy production, warning that failure to do so will lead to significant shortages of natural gas in the coming years.

“…this trend must change. We hope that with the steps now underway, the share of renewable energy will increase and the pressure caused by the energy imbalance will be reduced,” he was quoted as saying.

Shakeri was also qouted as saying that Iran may face a natural gas demand-production gap of 300 million cubic meters (mcm) per day this winter.

He warned that the shortfall could grow further in the years ahead unless Iran increases the share of renewables in its electricity generation.

Iran is the world’s fourth-largest consumer of natural gas after the United States, Russia, and China, and the third-largest producer. Peak gas demand reached more than 870 mcm per day in January last winter, a 12% increase year-on-year./isna