TEHRAN – Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian said on Sunday that the summer peak electricity consumption period has been passed without any pre-planned blackouts.

We passed through the summer peak consumption period without any blackouts despite the increase in the country’s electricity exports, Ardakanian told IRNA.

According to the minister, this summer the power supply by the country’s national grid increased by four percent compared to the previous year’s same period, while the peak demand growth reduced to nearly one percent.

“In previous years, the average growth in peak power demand was more than five percent, which meant we needed to build several new power plants with thousands of megawatts of capacity to meet this peak demand,” Ardakanian said.

“This year, however, we managed to reduce the increase in demand during the peak period to only one percent by implementing consumption management programs and allocating incentive packages for low-consuming subscribers”, he added.

“Consumption management programs started two years ago with the cooperation of people in various sectors including industry, agriculture, commerce, and households, and with the incentive packages that were foreseen and the memorandums that were concluded, we were able to reduce demand significantly”, the official explained.

“We were also able to fulfill the country’s electricity export commitments, which are particularly important in the face of the current sanctions and are significant sources of revenue for the country”, he stressed.

In late July, Ardakanian had announced that his ministry was considering new incentive packages for low-consuming households and industrial electricity subscribers.

“Last year, nearly 10.6 trillion rials (about $25.2 million) was paid to low-consuming households and industrial subscribers, and this year too, new incentive packages have been considered for awarding such consumers,” the minister said on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting.

Ardakanian also mentioned the management of electricity consumption during the cold season and said: “The [upcoming] winter is expected to be very cold and in this regard, the subscribers who make optimal use of heating devices and consume less electricity will also be rewarded.”

Since the beginning of the hot season, the energy ministry has been implementing new programs and strategies for encouraging people and industries to optimize their electricity consumption.

In late May, the Energy Ministry’s spokesman for the Electricity Sector Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi had said that last year, nearly 3.06 trillion rials (about $72.85 million) were paid to the households and industrial subscribers cooperating in the consumption management program in the form of incentives and relief packages.

EF/MA