Ismail Hosseini, a member of the Energy Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and a parliamentary observer in the Supreme Energy Council, stated regarding the energy situation in the country: The energy sector, including oil, gas, and electricity, is one of the country's strengths and a component of power; however, unfortunately, in recent years, for various reasons, this sector has become one of the country's challenges.
Existing Challenges in the Energy Sector
He identified mismanagement, weak oversight, and some actions taken in various sectors of the energy field as factors creating these challenges and added: The country has a suitable electricity production capacity, with the current electricity production capacity nearing 100,000 megawatts, but in terms of consumption, necessary optimization has not been carried out, and in the area of transmission and distribution, losses have not been sufficiently reduced.
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A member of the Energy Commission of the Parliament continued: Consumable equipment has not been sufficiently optimized, and the culture of energy consumption needs reform; for this reason, at certain times, consumption exceeds production, resulting in outages imposed by the Ministry of Energy.
Electricity Situation in Winter
Hosseini stated that in the cooler seasons of the year, the electricity challenge decreases, saying: During peak heat and in the summer season, due to the very high consumption of cooling equipment, electricity consumption increases significantly, with cooling equipment consuming about 35,000 megawatts; therefore, we usually face imbalance and problems in the summer.
He also commented on the electricity situation in winter: A large part of the country's electricity production capacity is related to thermal power plants, and the share of nuclear and renewable power plants in production capacity is less. In winter, with a sharp increase in gas consumption in the residential and commercial sectors, the ability to deliver gas to thermal power plants decreases.
A member of the Energy Commission of the Parliament added: Power plants use liquid fuels such as diesel and fuel oil to compensate for the reduced gas delivery, but in any case, this situation will bring problems.
Wartime Conditions and Their Impact on Energy
Hosseini emphasized that this assessment pertains to the normal conditions of the country, stating: Even if there were no war, we would still face imbalances in the energy sector, but now the country is in a wartime situation, and some infrastructures in the production of gas, oil, and diesel have been hit.
The parliamentary observer in the Supreme Energy Council continued: In the electricity sector, several thousand points of the country's electricity network, including transmission and distribution networks as well as some production sections, have been hit; however, thanks to the round-the-clock efforts of the operational forces in the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Oil, the public has not experienced significant outages due to the war.
Hosseini also commented on the fuel supply situation: In conditions where some countries were not even indirectly involved in the war, they experienced rising gasoline prices and fuel queues, but in our country, despite being in a wartime situation, such a situation was not observed during the 12-day war and the 40-day war and up to this point.
The Necessity of National Consensus to Overcome Energy Imbalance
He emphasized the country's wartime conditions, saying: We are engaged in a war with arrogance; they have come to destroy the revolution, the Islamic Republic, and Iran, and we must understand this atmosphere and make decisions accordingly.
Ismail Hosseini added: Overcoming the challenge of energy imbalance in wartime requires the consensus of various governmental bodies and the people; the Parliament, the government, various institutions, and the people must work together to help the country overcome this situation.
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