Iran’s peak energy demand reaches an all-time high of 70 GW

Iran’s grid operator says electricity demand in the country reached about 70 gigawatts on Sunday.

Iran has reported record electricity consumption as rising temperatures increase demand for cooling.

Iran Grid Management Company (IGMC) said the country’s peak electricity demand reached a maximum of 69,153 gigawatts (GW) on Sunday afternoon, an increase of more than 9 GW from the first peak recorded in the warm months of last year.

However, a company official told state television that energy demand had already exceeded 70 GW, saying it was an increase of 8% compared to last year.

IGMC said peak evening power demand reached 65,626 GW late on Saturday, an increase of more than 7 GW compared to data reported last year.

Tehran Power Distribution Company, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Energy, ordered power outages in 20 government departments in the Iranian capital on Sunday due to high electricity consumption.

The company ordered the same power outages on Saturday.

However, there were no reports of power outages in Iran’s household and business sectors.

Iran has a nominal power generation capacity of over 90 GW, which is mainly supplied by thermal power plants burning natural gas or diesel to generate electricity.

This comes after the country introduced extensive plans to develop the renewable energy sector in recent years.

The official IRNA news agency said in a report on Sunday that a total of 12 renewable power plants, including 11 solar farms and one wind farm, are planned to be opened in seven provinces of Iran in the near future.

The report indicated that the new plants will increase Iran’s renewable energy capacity by 70 megawatts, to a total capacity of just over 1,262 GW.

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