Iran concerned about security implications of its massive energy demand
Iran is concerned about the security implications of its massive energy demand, as a senior Oil Ministry official believes the country should do more to make its energy use efficient.
CEO of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Saeed Tavakoli said on Monday that Iran relies on natural gas for 83% of its electricity generation demand, saying the figure is nearly four times the current international norms.
Tavakoli said that up to 96% of Iran’s population has access to two separate energy supply networks, an issue which he said has inflicted major costs on the country.
He said that Iranian industries and power plants consume nearly 70% of Iran’s gas supplies, adding that the issue could lead to major imbalances in the supply and demand for energy in the country in the coming years.
“The country is facing energy imbalances, and if we continue with the current pace, (handling) the gas industry will become a security challenge,” said the official while calling on industries and power plants to modernize their equipment and machinery to make their energy use more efficient.
Iran is the fourth-largest consumer of natural gas in the world, after the US, Russia, and China, with a peak demand that reaches nearly 900 million cubic meters per day on cold winter days.
That comes as the country is also the world’s third-largest gas producer with an output capacity for unprocessed gas that reached nearly 1 billion cubic meters per day.
The NIGC was forced to restrict gas flows to industries and power plants last winter after the country’s demand for heating hit record highs. That led to brief power cuts in large cities while causing many industries to scale down their production operations for several weeks.
Tavakoli expressed hope that Iran would be spared from the energy supply problems it faced last winter, adding that power plants in the country have abundant supplies of alternative fuels to use in the coming winter if they face gas flow restrictions.
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