Industries increasingly source power outside national grid, Tavanir official says
Iran’s industrial power consumers are increasingly supplying their electricity needs from sources outside the country’s regional power companies and distribution firms, reflecting growing interest in alternative procurement methods, a senior official at state power company Tavanir said on Tuesday.
About 60% of the total electricity used by industrial subscribers during the past month was supplied from outside distribution companies and regional power firms, Abdolreza Fateh, director general of planning and economic affairs at Iran's Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution Company said.
He said this shows a broad willingness among domestic industries to secure electricity from sources other than those companies, IRNA reported.
Fateh said industrial demand for purchasing power through Iran’s energy exchange, signing bilateral contracts with power plants, and buying electricity from retail suppliers has been on the rise.
He added that electricity supplied to these consumers through the mentioned methods, or by building their own power plants is fully provided for under the law aimed at removing obstacles to the development of Iran’s electricity industry
Under one of the proposed optimization methods, Fateh explained, industries will be able next year to draw on the electricity they’ve saved during peak demand periods as “non‑interruptible power,” helping them avoid outages.
He also said billing procedures for industrial consumers have changed compared with the past. Under the current system, if industries secure their required electricity through the energy exchange, bilateral contracts, or retail suppliers, their bills will be calculated differently based on the energy package they purchase.
The shift comes as President Masoud Pezeshkian has urged manufacturers to step up investment in solar power, with the government aiming to install 30,000 MW of non-fossil capacity over the next three years amid an expected power shortfall next year.
According to the Energy Ministry, Iran is expected to face a power shortfall of between 17,000 and 20,000 megawatts next year.
According to SATBA, Iran’s installed renewable energy capacity has reached 3,500 megawatts, with plans to expand it to 11,000 megawatts by next summer.
Despite recent growth, clean energy sources still account for about 3.6% of Iran’s total electricity generation capacity of approximately 97,909 megawatts.