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26 July 2006 - High electricity Demand from neighbouring countries has kept Iran's power industry operating at full capacity from September to March, despite seasonal lower domestic demand, according to Energy Minister Parviz Fattah.
The minister said that power consumption reached 33 200 MW on July 18, which was up by 1000 MW compared to the figure for the same day last year.
According to Iran Daily, the minister further said that the industry is planning to increase the power generation capacity by 5000 MW by next March, stressing that a portion of this amount has been achieved in the past four months.
"Despite all efforts to increase power generation capacity, we have had power failures in some parts of the country due to shortcomings in the network," he said, adding that once tariffs are reviewed, customers who consume less will be given discounts while those with high consumption will be fined.
The government pays 20 trillion rials ($2.1bn) in subsidies for electricity each year whereas this amount could be invested in the key industry's development projects.
The minister predicted that the country's average growth in power consumption will reach eight per cent by next March.
"Power consumption growth has gone up drastically in some provinces," he said, adding that the figure stands at 25 per cent for Bushehr, 18 per cent for Khuzestan, 19 per cent for Mazandaran and 25-30 percent for southern parts of Kerman.
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