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Iran’s president’s pick for energy minister says he’ll tackle electricity shortage

Abbas Aliabadi says Iran has 18 GW of imbalance in supply and demand for electricity.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s pick for Energy Minister says he is determined to tackle a widening gap between the demand and supply for electricity in the country.

Abbas Aliabadi told members of the Iranian parliament in a briefing on Monday that Iran has an imbalance of 18 gigawatts (GW) between supply and demand for electricity which has been exacerbated in recent years due to growing demand for cooling in summer months.

Aliabadi said that he will tackle the shortage with massive renovation programs at power plants and by completing unfinished power plant projects.

He said that the Energy Ministry under his leadership will prioritize expansion of Iran’s renewables sector while trying to increase electricity trade with neighbors.

Aliabadi was CEO of Iran’s largest energy construction and engineering company MAPNA for 14 years until he became industry minister in 2023.

During his time in MAPNA, he introduced a home-grown turbine manufacturing program which helped various governments with their plans to launch new power plants or to renovate the existing ones.   

MAPNA has also been in charge of major renewables projects in Iran, including many wind farms across the country that rely on modern equipment manufactured by the company.

Aliabadi told the Iranian parliament’s energy committee that Iran also faces a major imbalance in supply and demand for water.

He said that the country has to expand water desalination projects along its southern coasts and build dams on rivers along the borders to be able to respond to gowning demand for water in Iran’s household, manufacturing and agriculture sectors.

Iran’s parliament will start debates on a list of 19 ministers proposed by Pezeshkian on August 17.


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