TEHRAN – Electricity consumption by Iran’s industrial sector broke the current Iranian calendar month’s (started on May 21) previous record to reach 5,153 megawatts (5.0153 GW) on Friday, IRNA reported.

The mentioned sector’s electricity consumption had reached 5,013 megawatts (5.013 GW) last week, which was an unprecedented record in the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 19).

The increase in industrial electricity consumption occurred while the consumption trend in other sectors was downward.

Last Saturday, the country’s total electricity consumption reached 54,275 MW, which showed that the country’s power consumption was still following the steep upward trend earlier this year, the Energy Ministry’s data showed.

The figure increased by more than 4,000 MW on the mentioned date compared to the same period last year.

Earlier this month, the Energy Ministry warned of the unprecedented increases in power consumption across the country.

Deputy Energy Minister Homayoun Haeri said the country’s electricity consumption is expected to reach 60,000 megawatts (60 gigawatts) during the summer peak period.

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 this period and said every year nearly 5,000 MW capacity is added to the total overhaul program.

"Since last summer, 1433 megawatts of nominal capacity and 900 megawatts 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 continuing these programs," he said.

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