Iran Power Sector Expanding Frontiers

"The earnings are invested in expanding the national grid in urban and suburban regions," he was quoted as saying by ISNA.

The number of electricity meters nationwide exceeds 36 million with 3.5 million new subscribers having joined the national grid since 2015. 

Household, agricultural and industrial sectors account for 28.5 million, 436,000 and 242,000 consumers respectively. The rest are public and commercial companies, according to Financial Tribune.

Close to 650,000 new subscribers joined the network since March, indicating a 3.1% rise compared to the same period last year. The news agency put electricity supply at 137 billion kilowatt-hours in the past eight months, of which 34.4% was used by households.

Industries, agriculture and commercial sectors used 42 billion kWh, 22 billion kWh and 12 billion kWh respectively in the same period. The rest was used by state and public organizations.

"Households consume the lion's share of power," he said, noting that national electricity production capacity is 70 gigawatts. According to issued data by the government-affiliated Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (Tavanir), the capacity barely stood at 7,000 MW in 1976.

Power generation cost, including production and transmission, is 2 cents per kilowatt-hour. Electricity is subsidized and sold for 0.7 cents per kWh.

Exports 

Regarding exports the minister said export tariffs are 17 times above domestic prices. 

He said close to 2.3 million kWh was sold to international markets in the past six months. The country is the largest exporter and importer of electricity in the Middle East and exports power to Pakistan, Turkey, Iraq and Afghanistan. Azerbaijan and Armenia supply electricity to Iran under swap agreements.

"Electricity output capacity has risen by 1,800 MW per annum over the last four decades," he added, noting that last year's production growth exceeded 3,800 MW.

Highlighting the decline in blackouts during peak hours, the minister said outages declined by 98% since March to July compared to the same period last year.

“New power plants (thermal, combined cycle and solar) contributed largely to the reduction in power cuts.”

Iran's electricity industry ranks 14th in the world in terms of output and 19th in consumption.

Fifteen new power stations with the capacity to generate 3,000 megawatts have joined the grid since last year and installed power generation capacity will increase by 3,000 MW by March 2020.

Domestic installed power generation capacity has reached 85,000 MW -- up 23% compared to 2015. The number of national grid transformers, electrical devices to supply power by changing magnetic fields has risen 23% to 725,000. The government and private sector have invested $12 billion in power industry since 2013.