Speaking on the sidelines of the first convention on "Water Scarcity Adaptation" in Tehran on Monday, Reza Ardakanian said: “Up until 2017 growth in electricity consumption was between 5% to 7%. But in the past two years the numbers have declined,” IRNA quoted him as saying.
It was not clear why and to what extent the growth has slowed.
“If growth is about development of the industry, it is justified. But if it is because we want to set indoor temperature at 17 degrees Centigrade (comfort temperature is 25 degrees), it means overconsumption,” he noted, adding that if the trend of overconsumption continues it would be problematic, Financial Tribune reported.
The minister reiterated that if people use electricity judiciously (avoid overuse and waste), “we can use power plants for developing industries and agriculture, and also increase electricity export.”
Iran exports power to several neighboring countries in winter and imports electricity in summer if needed.
Several power plants are built every year at great cost to the treasury to meet rising demand during the hot summers. “Judicious consumption can help channel funds available for developing other sectors,” Ardakanian was quoted as saying.
He hoped that if consumption growth this summer does not exceed 2.5% similar to last year, there would be no need for blackouts and outages.
Network load reached 58,000 megawatts during peak hours in the last fiscal and is expected to surpass 61 gigawatts this summer.
Soaring temperatures and the sweltering heat in the past two weeks (35°C and moving towards 50 Centigrade in the south) has compelled households and businesses to turn on their cooling systems sooner than usual.