TEHRAN – Iran’s Deputy Energy Minister Homayoun Haeri says the country’s electricity consumption is expected to reach 60,000 megawatts (60 gigawatts) during the summer peak consumption period, Mehr News Agency reported.

Speaking in a meeting with First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri on Sunday, the official said the country’s peak electricity consumption has already reached 56.44 GW in the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 20), while the peak consumption level barely reached 54.14 GW in the previous year.

The deputy minister underlined the Energy Ministry’s annual overhaul program as one of the main strategies of the ministry to realize a “zero blackout” goal during the peak consumption period, adding that every year nearly 5,000 MW capacity is added to the total overhaul program.

The average age of over 30 percent of the country’s power plants is more than 20 years, the official regretted.

"Since last summer, 1433 MW of nominal capacity and 900 MW of practical capacity have been added to the country’s power generation capacity,” he said referring to the country’s nominal electricity generation capacity.

“Since two years ago, we have been implementing a series of serious programs for consumption management, and we are committed to continue these programs," he said.

The electricity consumption in Iran has been following an unprecedented upward trend in the recent weeks as a new heat wave has blanketed the country.

Earlier this month, the energy ministry warned of the unprecedented increases in power consumption across the country.

In early May, Iran’s Power Generation and Distribution Company (known as TAVANIR) announced that the electricity consumption, since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20) up to May 6 increased by five percent compared to the same period last year.

In the past decade, constant temperature rising and the significant decrease of rainfalls across Iran have put the country in a hard situation regarding electricity supply during peak consumption periods.

In this regard, the Energy Ministry has been following new strategies in recent years to manage the consumption and lessen the electricity losses in the national grid.

EF/MA