TEHRAN - The Iranian Energy Ministry has allowed large manufacturers in the country to start importing electricity amid restrictions imposed on their power supplies.
The head of transmission and international trade operations at the Iranian state electricity company Tavanir said that a permit had been issued to enable large industries to import power from Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Muhammad Allahdad said that the decision had been adopted to provide stable supplies of electricity to large manufacturers and to ease the burden on Iran’s electrical grid.
Allahdad said that the foreign exchange price applied to imports will be a rate supported by the government and used by other importers and exporters, which is normally 10% lower than the free market rates.
He said that large manufacturers can use a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line for imports of electricity from Turkey.
The announcement comes days after Iranian media reports showed that large industries across the country had been ordered to halt their production for at least two weeks to control demand for electricity.
The reports said that cement and steel manufacturers had been ordered by the country’s Interior Ministry to slash their consumption of electricity to 10% of the normal demand for 15 days starting May 15.
The decision came amid rising demand for cooling across Iran as temperatures have reached record levels in recent days, causing millions of households to turn on their air conditioning systems much earlier than expected.
However, Iran’s Association of Cement Producers said on Tuesday that Tavanir had agreed to ease its electricity supply restrictions on large industries to help them maintain their output at reasonable levels.