Local electricity generation key to power shortages in Iran
By Mahdi Jalilian
Guest contributor
One of the major problems of the electricity supply in Iran is its imbalance, which, especially in summer, when consumption rises, creates a shortage of electricity and customary power cuts. Building small local power plants has a sizable impact on the region’s electricity production and industrial development. Some of the effects are as follows:
A small regional power plant in every industrial area is enough to meet industrial needs and allows one to abandon the dependence on the national power grid, which suffers from deficit far too often. Only this factor can increase the stability of industrial production.
Indigenous generation of electricity will reduce the burden on the national grid by reducing the demand for electricity. This relieves the burden exerted on the national grid. It can also enhance the reliability of the regional electricity network and prevent sudden cuts in power supply. In addition, power shortages in industries lead to colossal losses that can be prevented by setting up indigenous power plants.
If every industrial zone can fulfill its power requirements through local power plants, then this may attract more investments and construction of additional industrial units in the local industrial parks. Reliable power supply ensures higher production with better efficiency in industries.
Electricity supply from small generating stations reduces the cost of transmission of electricity from other regions; local production becomes cheaper because of this. It may help bring down the cost of production in the local industry, making it more competitive in the national and international market.
Construction and operation of the plants create new job opportunities both directly and indirectly. Apart from the employees for the power plants, industries requiring this energy source will also need to add new employees. Such increasing employment opportunities can bring economic prosperity and raise the living standards of people in those areas.
By reducing long-distance power transmission, it improves the efficiency of the network to better utilize energy resources.
Finally, small local power plants can be built in every industrial area to revolutionize the production of electricity, which will spur industrialization in that area. Basically, this approach ensures that the industrial towns have a stable and reliable source of energy; this attracts investment, reduces the production costs, and creates sustainable job opportunities. Besides that, reduction in dependency on the national grid impacts positively and has a great influence on raising the efficiency and stability of the regional and national power networks.