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Energy minister nominee vows to tackle power shortage
Abbas Aliabadi told members of the Parliament that Iran has an imbalance of 18 gigawatts (GW) between supply and demand for electricity which has been exacerbated in recent years due to growing demands for cooling in the summer months, as reported by Press TV.
Aliabadi said that he will tackle the shortage with massive renovation programs at power plants and by completing unfinished power plant projects.
He said that the Energy Ministry under his leadership will prioritize expansion of Iran’s renewables sector while trying to increase electricity trade with neighbors.
Aliabadi was CEO of Iran’s largest energy construction and engineering company MAPNA for 14 years until he became industry minister in 2023.
During his time in MAPNA, he introduced a home-grown turbine manufacturing program which helped various governments with their plans to launch new power plants or to renovate the existing ones.
MAPNA has also been in charge of major renewables projects in Iran, including many wind farms across the country that rely on modern equipment manufactured by the company.
Aliabadi told the Iranian Parliament’s Energy Commission that Iran also faces a major imbalance in supply and demand for water.
He said that the country has to expand water desalination projects along its southern coasts and build dams on rivers along the borders to be able to respond to gowning demand for water in Iran’s household, manufacturing and agriculture sectors.
Iran’s Parliament will start debates on a list of 19 ministers proposed by Pezeshkian on August 17.