Iran faces water and electricity shortages this summer
The inflow of water into Tehran’s dams has fallen by around 21% since March compared to last year, while reports indicate that the country will also face severe power shortages this year.
Mohammad-Reza Bakhtiari, director general of the water and wastewater company of Tehran province, said on Friday that with about 179 millimeters of rain since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 21), the reserves Tehran province’s water supply dams are at 636 million cubic meters, up from 815 million cubic meters over last year.
Iran has been suffering from drought for at least a decade and this year officials have been warning of a further drop in rainfall.
As drought persists, more groundwater is being tapped for irrigation, depleting natural reservoirs formed over thousands of years. The drought has also led to a reduction in hydroelectric power generation.
On Thursday, a member of parliament’s energy committee, Parviz Mohammadnejad, said the country was facing a shortfall of around 14,000 megawatts in power generation, adding that the deficit will lead to regular outages during the summer when consumption is at its peak.
Electricity consumption has increased in Iran due to extremely low prices, considered a subsidy in the state-controlled economy. While the capacity of power plants and their fuel supply remain insufficient, Iran exports electricity to Iraq.