Iran's energy sector review

 A s nuclear talks resume and threats from the US and Israel continue, Iran’s atomic chief claims the country’s electricity shortages will be solved by building new nuclear power plants. Nuclear power currently accounts for just one percent of Iran’s electricity generation. To make up for the country’s 25,000-megawatt shortfall, Iran would need to build 25 nuclear plants the size of Bushehr—which took 25 years to complete, even with Russian assistance. Since its launch in 2011, the Bushehr nuclear plant has produced just 70 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity—worth less than $6 billion on regional markets. This modest output contrasts sharply with Iran’s extensive uranium enrichment program, which has been justified as necessary for nuclear power generation but has contributed to at least $2 trillion in direct economic losses from sanctions since 2012. The Islamic Republic has repeatedly announced plans to develop 20,000 megawatts of nuclear power capacity, but progress has been mi...

By  Dalga Khatinoglu The peak electricity demand in Iran and its neighbor clients Afghanistan and Iraq happens in warm months, but during this period last year Islamic Republic’s exports plunged due to high demand at home. Its electricity imports from Armenia and especially Turkmenistan have been declining dramatically since September. This is possibly due to U.S. banking sanctions, which restrict Iran’s ability to pay its bills. During international sanctions prior to the nuclear deal (2011-2016), Iran was also unable to pay for Turkmen gas and electricity imports, running up $2bn in debts. Iran’s electricity trade during last and the previous fiscal years (GWh/month): ​ Power Generation Iran increased nominal power generation capacity by 2.3% last year; less than half of projected growth, but its actual electricity generation increased by only 1% to 312 TWh, a fifth of projected plan. The growth rate for actual power generation is far below nominal capacity, beca...

Iran’s Oil Ministry officially opened four new phases of the South Pars gas field March 17, citing production and investment figures that don’t add up. The nominal production capacity of the newly opened phases 13, 22, 23 and 24 is 113 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d), but currently they are producing about half of that. The processing units of these phases are also operating at half capacity most probably due to Iran’s technical limitations compounded by sanctions. Phase 13 is projected to produce 56 mcm of natural gas and 75,000 barrels of gas condensate (ultra-light oil) per day, when it becomes fully operational. The capacity of phases 22-24 are together equal to phase 13. The Oil Ministry said all phases will be operating at full capacity within one year. According to Oil Ministry’s statement, some $10 billion were invested in the mentioned four phases, but ministry officials put the figure at $11 billion during the inauguration ceremony, which President Hassan Rouhani ...

Based on the latest report on world gasoline prices, Iran has the cheapest fuel for cars, after Venezuela. Global Petrol Prices has issued a list of gasoline prices  around the world, which shows that one litre of gas in Iran costs just 27 cents, while in the United States, which has moderate prices compared with many other countries, one litre is 83 cents. The average price in the world for 95 octane gasoline is $1.17 per litre, with Norway, Hong Kong and Iceland being above two dollars, as the most expensive places to drive a car. But Venezuela is at the top of the list with gas available at just 1 cent per litre, while it suffers from astronomical inflation, poverty and a general economic breakdown. Iran is also in the grips of serious economic trouble, but as an oil producing nation, it is beholden to public expectations of cheap fuel. Traditionally, oil producing countries offer low-priced gasoline and other liquid fuels domestically, since usually that’s one of the...

Iran increased nominal power generation capacity by 3% to around 78.9 GW during last fiscal year, ended on March 20, the statistics of Energy Ministry’s annual report indicate. The mentioned figure is nominal power generation, but the actual capacity stood at below 68.5 GW, which demonstrate that the country’s power plants suffer seriously from aging and exhaustion. During the last year Iran fulfilled only a half of the power generation growth plan, especially its renewable power projects are far behalf of plan. Iran needs at least 5 percent growth annually to avoid power outage in summers, when the electricity demand soars. The country added only 100MW to renewables last year, while it had planned to install 690 MW. Currently the renewables account for less than 0.5 percent of Iran’s total power generation capacity. Iran has planned to increase renewables by 5GW during 2016-2021, but currently the volume stands at 364MW in total and most of that was installed before 2016. ...