Speaking during an open session of parliament to review the first-year performance of Iran’s Seventh Development Plan on Tuesday, Pezeshkian said that, unlike last year, when the country struggled with power cuts and fuel shortages, “many of those problems have now been resolved.”
“By saving just 10% in energy consumption, we can preserve the equivalent of 900,000 barrels of oil and gas per day,” the president said.
He added that more than 1,800 megawatts of solar panels have been installed and connected to the national grid during his administration, while an additional 2,700 MW of existing capacity has been upgraded.
“By the end of this [Iranian calendar] year, between 7,000 and 8,000 MW more will be installed and connected,” he noted.
“This is not just a claim – with reliance on God and sustained effort, we will solve the energy problem,” Pezeshkian said.
According to the president, although the initial plan envisioned installing 10,000 MW of solar energy capacity within five years, contracts for over 79,000 MW of solar and wind power projects have already been signed and are being implemented.
Pezeshkian also said last year’s power and gas cuts inflicted losses of about 3.2 quadrillion rials ($6.2 billion) on industries and factories, but the government aims to prevent producers from facing such disruptions again.
