Member of Iran’s Electricity Industry Syndicate: We Will Face Power Shortages for the Next Two Years
Experts cite the failure to implement electricity production growth programs and extensive power losses in the distribution network as important reasons for the recent power crisis in Iran.
A member of Iran’s Electricity Industry Syndicate has stated that the current unstable conditions in power supply and the occurrence of widespread blackouts stem from “improper planning in the energy sector” and “if steps are taken from today to increase electricity production, we will still face the problem of power shortage for at least the next two years”.
Nasrollah Kazemi, in an interview with the Young Journalists Club, called for the preparation of “an energy planning scheme with the participation of all stakeholders in the country’s energy sector”.
He stated that “power supply limitations for industries and their shutdowns cause significant damage to the national economy” and this approach is not demand management but demand restriction.
Mr. Kazemi expressed concern about power supply conditions in the coming winter.
Following repeated and prolonged power cuts in various Iranian cities over recent weeks, many citizens shared videos on social media reporting damage to businesses, disruption of administrative affairs and traffic, and deteriorating conditions of some patients.
The continuation of this situation has led to scattered protests and gatherings of citizens in front of electricity offices in various cities across the country, with slogans chanted against the country’s officials, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.
Officials cite the intensification of drought and the faster activation of agricultural wells as reasons for the recent power shortage in Iran. However, in December of last year, following widespread power cuts in several cities, it was announced that Bitcoin cryptocurrency mining and its significant pressure on the country’s power grid were the main causes of the incident.
Experts, meanwhile, cite the failure to implement electricity production growth programs and extensive power losses in the distribution network as other important reasons for the recent power crisis in the country.
According to the plan, Iran should have invested two billion dollars annually over the past 10 years in modernizing the power grid, but it has not done so, and now loses four billion dollars annually in power from the network.
Last year, the Iranian government had set a target of 4,800 megawatts of electricity production growth, but only 39 percent of it was achieved in practice, and in 2019 less than half of the targeted goals were achieved, and in the first two months of the current year, only slightly more than one percent of the targets set for 2021 have been achieved.
Source: Radio Farda
