Iran’s beleaguered Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi warned that a “race in consumption” was fuelling ongoing power shortages, ISNA reported on February 18, as speculation mounts over his potential dismissal from President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government.

Aliabadi spelt out his ministry’s plans to tackle the electricity shortfall but made it clear that their success depended on public cooperation in “rational energy consumption”.

Mounting criticism of the energy ministry’s performance reached a fever pitch last week following widespread blackouts in the capital Tehran—an unusual occurrence in winter.

The outages, which were the first of their kind in three years, set off alarm bells, as such disruptions typically take place in summer rather than the colder months.

According to the energy ministry, Iran suffered a crippling daily electricity deficit of 20,000 megawatts (MW) at peak demand last summer, a figure that is expected to jump to 25,000 MW in the coming summer. On the hottest summer days, electricity consumption soared to 80,000 MW.

The day after Tehran plunged into darkness, a blame game erupted between the energy and oil ministries, with each pointing the finger at the other.

The energy ministry claimed that the outages stemmed from fuel shortages at thermal power plants (TPPs). But the oil ministry insisted that there was no fuel supply issue, accusing the energy ministry of passing the buck.

Aliabadi, outlining his ministry’s recovery plan, said that extensive maintenance work would be carried out before summer, under which a variety of power plants with a combined capacity of 120,000 MW per day would undergo repairs.  

He also noted that the completion of unfinished projects and the construction of new power plants would inject 3,600 MW more electricity into the national grid.

Iran’s clean energy sector has seen modest growth, with capacity creeping up to 1,700 MW per day—150 MW more than last month.

“By peak summer demand, renewable energy capacity will push past 3,000 MW and is set to climb to 5,000 MW by the end of summer,” Aliabadi said.

Green energy still accounts for just 2.1% of Iran’s total electricity generation.

Iran aims to crank up its renewable energy capacity by 10,000 MW annually over the next three years, capitalising on its favourable climate, which offers over 300 sunny days per year in many regions, as well as its strong wind corridors.