TEHRAN – Iranian power plants are set to produce at least 51 gigawatts (GW) of electricity during the peak hours of consumption in summer, IRNA reported on Sunday quoting deputy minister of energy for electricity affairs as saying.

According to Homayoun Haeri, in this regard the oil ministry plans to focus on consumption management and increasing the average efficiency of the country’s power plants to 38.5 percent.

"The production record high of 47,000 megawatts (47GW) which was achieved in last summer should not only be maintained this year but we need to increase the number to at least 51,000 megawatts (51GW),” Haeri said.

In October 2018, the head of Iran’s Thermal Power Plants Holding Company unveiled a plan for an increase in the efficiency of the country’s power plants up to 40 percent.

According to Mohsen Tarztalab, following a development initiative foreseen in the country’s Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2016-2021) the average efficiency of the country’s power plants would increase 2.1 percent from the current 37.9 percent.

According to the plan, new power plants in Iran should operate with an efficiency of at least 55 percent.

The Ministry of Energy has been trying to improve the efficiency of the country’s existing power plants as part of efforts to limit harmful emissions and cut fuel consumption.

The country’s current nominal power generation capacity stands at 79.325GW.

EF/MG