Tehran Moving Toward Power Efficiency

EghtesadOnline: Wastage in Tehran's power grid was reduced from 3.2% to 2% last February, managing director of Tehran Regional Electric Company said.

News ID: ۷۴۸۳۹۲

08 September 2019

“With effective measures we have been able to spend peak summertime this year with the minimum blackout,” the Energy Ministry news portal Paven quoted Gholamreza Khoshkholq as saying.

Current wastage rate is near acceptable international levels and compatible with electric transmission network loss in developed countries, he said.

The long-awaited reduction is the result of technical and non-technical measures, namely fighting illegal electricity use, renovating the network and replacing aerial bundle cables with conventional bare conductors, Financial Tribune reported.

"The capital's aerial and ground transmission cables have been extended by 534 kilometers during the past two years," Khoshkholgh said, adding that the TREC has also replaced 100 km of old power cables since 2018.

TREC covers Tehran, Qom and Alborz provinces with at least 8 million subscribers or 20% of subscribers across the country.

Peak hour demand in the three provinces was 11,000 megawatts this year and although consumption was higher than last year, the network was stable, Khoshkholgh said.

There are $87 million worth of power projects underway in Tehran and the neighboring provinces of Qom and Alborz, which are expected to be completed by 2021.

Implementing power transmission and distribution substation projects, as well as extending aerial and ground transmission cables, are among the company's priorities.

To further stabilize electricity supply in the capital, state-owned Tehran Province Electricity Distribution Company has embarked on upgrading metering systems in residential and commercial units, notably by installing smart meters that allow for reading consumption remotely and instantly.

The new meters record energy consumption more accurately compared to conventional meters and send data to regional electricity companies.

A Far Cry

Over 10% of electricity is wasted in the national grid because of dilapidated equipment and infrastructure quality of the national grid is far from what is desired.

However, power wastage in the national grid declined from 15.2% to 11.1% between 2013 and 2018. Iran is still among countries in which massive amounts of power is wasted and ranks seventh in terms of power wastage in the world.

Iraq (50.6%), India (19.4), Pakistan (17.4%), Brazil (15.8), Turkey (14.8), Mexico (13.7%) are the top six losers.

Electricity is usually supplied from large power plants to consumers via extensive networks and rugged terrain. Transmission over long distances creates power loss.

There are plans to increase the efficiency of power plants by using state-of-the-art turbines and upgrading the power stations.

According to plans, power plants’ average efficiency rate should reach 40% (from the current 37%) by the end of 2022. The Energy Ministry has said it will reduce power wastage to 9% by 2022.