TEHRAN - National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Dispatching Director Mehdi Jamshidi Dana says NIGC is currently supplying 240 million cubic meters (mcm) of natural gas to the country’s power plants on a daily basis, registering a 20-percent rise.

“The figure stood at 200 mcm last week,” Jamshidi Dana told IRNA on Friday.

The official noted that during the peak consumption period in summer, power plants would need 310 mcm of gas per day, a figure that could be easily met by the National Gas Company, given its network capacity.

According to the official, all the fuel needs of the power plants connected to the national gas network are currently met unless they are going through minor repairs in their gas sector.

Currently, 85 power plants across the country are using natural gas as fuel, he said.

He further mentioned gas supply during the cold season, saying: “This winter, gas supply will be better due to increased production as well as the increased gas transmission capacity.”

Earlier this month, Jamshidi Dana announced that the transmission capacity of the national gas network was raised to one billion cubic meters per day (bcm/d).

Noting that several projects were carried out last calendar year (ended on March 19) to increase the country's gas network capacity, the official said: "Most of the mentioned projects have been implemented in the ninth national line, most of which will be operational this year."

The official had previously said that 61 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas was supplied to the country’s power plants during the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19).

Iran is currently producing over 810 mcm of natural gas daily which is mostly used inside the country for the domestic sector and also as fuel for the power plants and a small portion is also exported to the neighboring countries like Iraq.

Currently, about 30,000 villages with 4.6 million households as well as 1,148 cities with over 18 million households are connected to the national gas network in Iran.

Gas is supplied to 97 percent of people in the urban areas and 82 percent of people in the rural regions, according to NIGC’s Managing Director Hassan Montazer Torbati.

EF/MA