According to the Oil Ministry news portal, more than 27,000 villages, constituting 82% of the rural population is now connected to the grid.
Managing director of Yazd Gas Company, Ali Akbar Meidanshahi said 490 villages in the province have access to natural gas and the rest, mostly in mountainous regions in Mehriz County such as Shirkouh, Miankouh and Kanjkouh, will have access to piped gas by 2022.
Meidanshahi said $13 million is expected to be allocated for gas supply to mountain regions. Providing gas to households is a priority and will be followed by industries joining the grid, according to Financial Tribune.
Regarding the industrial sector he said 428 industrial units were linked to the grid last year, and 3,000 greenhouses and 285 brick factories are using natural gas.
Yazd is one of Iran's centers for textiles, fabrics and construction material.
Other Provinces
Referring to NIGC projects in other provinces, the news portal said the grid's length in northern Gilan Province has exceeded 20,000 kilometers.
More than 2,000 rural communities (10,350 households) are linked to the grid and pipe laying projects are underway to supply 28 mountain villages with the clean fuel. Another 100 more villages in the tourist province are waiting to be connected to the network.
According to Ahmad Felegari, managing director of Kurdestan Gas Company, total length of the grid in the province of 1.6 million people has reached 11,500 kilometers, supplying gas to 88% or 1,177 rural areas. The figure is expected to reach 94% by 2020.
Pipe-laying work is underway to extend the grid by 61,000 km for supplying gas to 300 industrial units, of which 80 units will be linked to the network soon.
Alireza Sharifi, CEO of Semnan Gas Company told the portal that rural gas ventures are ready for launch in Garmsar, Damghan and Shahroud.
Industries and power plants in the province account for 70% of the total gas consumed in the area, he said.
The Oil Ministry website quoted Gholamabbas Hosseini, head of Fars Gas Company as saying that projects worth $29 million have been completed to link 14,000 households to the grid in 174 rural communities. Moreover, 120 small and medium-sized plants were linked to the grid last week.
Gas meets 70% of the country’s energy need and expanding the network is a declared goal of the government because it helps supply clean energy from refineries directly to remote regions in rural areas.
NIGC data shows 260 billion cubic meters of gas can be supplied annually making Iran the fourth largest gas grid in the world after the US, Russia and Canada.