TEHRAN – Energy Minister Ali-Akbar Mehrabian has said the country’s peak electricity consumption in the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 21) has reached 69,278 megawatts (MW), which is 2,000 MW more than the figure for the previous year.

Speaking to the press on Monday, Mehrabian said the gap between electricity supply and demand was around 19,000 MW in the previous year, however, due to the significant surge in demand the figure is expected to reach 20,000 MW in the current year, ILNA reported.

According to the minister, the average temperature in the country has been 38 degrees on the Celsius scale since the beginning of the year so far, which shows an increase of 1.1 degrees compared to the same period last year.

The official further noted that each degree of temperature rise would boost the country’s electricity consumption by 1,500 MW and this means that with each degree of temperature rise 2,500 MW capacity of new power plants should be added to the country’s power network.

“This year, despite people’s savings, we have witnessed an 85 percent growth in electricity consumption,” Mehrabian said.

He noted that over one million new electricity subscribers have been added to the number of the country’s power consumers since the previous calendar year.

The minister had previously called on people to continue following consumption management programs, saying: “If the people's cooperation and saving continue like in the early days of the summer, we will get through the remaining days of the season with minimal problems.”

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

Iran's Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company (known as Tavanir) has previously announced that the company is implementing a variety of programs for managing the situation and preventing blackouts in the country.

EF/MA