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Iran has begun rolling power cuts across the country as the Islamic republic struggles with natural gas shortages ahead of winter.
A two-hour daily shutdown will be enforced in Tehran, the capital with 9.5 million people, from Monday and will affect households and businesses, local media reported. Several provinces were also affected by power cuts on Sunday.
Iran is suffering from an energy supply crisis despite having the world’s third largest oil reserves and the world’s second largest natural gas reserves. Years of underinvestment in power generation and poor maintenance of existing infrastructure have led to frequent blackouts during the summer, when hotter temperatures lead to a spike in air conditioning use.
The power cut also led to the ban decision mazuta highly polluting fuel oil, at three power plants in Arak, Isfahan and Karaj. The replacement of natural gas has contributed to high levels of air pollution in Iran.
“By preventing burning mazut Shina Ansari, vice president and head of the environment department, said that at three thermal power plants, the government was forced to implement scheduled power cuts nationwide. “This is a valuable step toward reducing the health risks associated with air pollution.”
As temperatures drop in winter, Iran’s natural gas supply is insufficient to meet growing demand, so the country’s power plants are forced to rely on this energy source. mazut make raw materials. Experts estimate the country will face a natural gas shortage of at least 260 million cubic meters per day this winter. They are negotiating to increase imports from neighboring Turkmenistan.
Iran’s energy crisis has been exacerbated by sanctions over its nuclear program. Since taking office in July, President Masoud Pezeshkian has kept the door open negotiate with the US and other Western countries with hope ensure some sanctions relief.
After Donald Trump won second presidential term This week, Pezeshkian said “it will make no difference” who leads the US, arguing that Iran “will not adopt a restrictive stance in developing relations with other countries”. During his first term, Trump withdrew the United States from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reinstated sanctions as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran. .
Sanctions hinder Iran from building new power plants or optimizing grid operations. Industry experts say some power plants need to be overhauled or replaced.
Ahmad Moradi, a member of parliament’s energy committee, said on Sunday that the national grid was short of 20,000 MW of power, which he blamed on “insufficient generation capacity, problems at old power plants and transmission lines.”
The Islamic republic is also looking to address high gasoline demand, which is caused by domestic cars being fuel inefficient, fuel quality substandard and public transport not being available. fully, in the context of limited engine fuel filtering capabilities.
Iran is one of the countries with the cheapest gasoline prices in the world, about 0.02 USD/liter. Pezeshkian has questioned the viability of huge subsidies on gasoline, sparking speculation of price increases next year.
