Iran’s electricity consumption picks up 3.5 percent

Azerbaijan, Baku, July 1 /Trend, R. Zamanov/ Iran's electricity consumption peak averaged at 39.493 megawatt hours in the week of June 28. The figure shows a 3.5 per cent increase compared to the same period last year, the Tasnim News Agency reported. Iran's electricity consumption peak occurred on June 22 was 40,944 megawatt hours, which is 18.63 per cent more than the same day previous year. The managing director of Great Tehran Electrical Distribution Company, Seyyed Mohammad Hashemi, said on June 9 that there will be no planned power outage in Tehran this summer. Deputy Energy Minister Mohammad Behzad also said on June 8 that Iran has stored some 4,000 megawatt hours of electricity to compensate for the consumption peak in the summer. Some 1,000 megawatt hours of the mentioned amount is produced at Bushehr nuclear plant, the Mehr News Agency quoted Behzad as saying. Iran's summer peak of consumption is around 46,200 megawatt hours, he explained. By using Energy-Efficient lamps Iran has managed to save 400 megawatt hours of electricity each day, he added. Behzad said last month that Iran has constructed power plants twice at a rate two times the average worldwide rate over the past ten years. The power generation capacity of Iran has grown by 7 percent annually during the past 10 years, he said, adding that the figure has averaged 3.5 percent in the world. The country's power generation capacity is currently at 68.38 gigawatts, he added. Iran currently trades power with Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq. Iran seeks to become a major regional exporter of electricity and has attracted more than $1.1 billion in investments for the construction of three new power plants. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az