Iran should have enough electricity to meet rising demand over the summer months, says Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian as he promises that some 6 gigawatts (GW) will be added to the current power generation capacity in the country before the start if peak demand in July.

�We hope we can see out this year�s summer with the least of problems. The power generation capacity will increase by 6,000 megawatts this year,� Mehrabian was quoted as saying by the Iranian state TV on Monday.

Iran recorded a peak electricity demand of more than 57 GW last summer. Authorities say they expect the figure to increase to 60 GW in July when the country goes through a heat wave.

Energy Ministry figures say total electricity generation capacity in Iran is more than 85 GW. However, the country has been forced to impose brief power cuts in large cities in recent years as actual electricity output is less than 52 GW.


Mehrabian said that 4.5 GW of the new power capacity in Iran will come from new power plants that have opened or are planned to be launched within the next two months.

The minister added that renewables will be responsible for 0.5 GW of new capacity while another 1 GW will be made available through carrying out restructuring plans in existing power plants.

Iran�s state-run electricity company Tavanir said on Sunday that power consumption in the country had increased by 4% year on year in the two weeks to the end of March to a total of 10 billion kilowatt hours (kWh).

The company said some provinces had reported a growth in consumption of up to 10% over the same period.






By PRESS TV