Deputy Energy Minister: Industrial Power Cuts to End in Coming Weeks as Grid Shortfall Drops 30 Percent

Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, deputy minister of energy for electricity, said on Saturday, 17 Mordad 1405 (8 August 2026), that despite damage from the war, Iran's power grid shortfall has fallen 30 percent from a year earlier and this year's rolling blackouts began about two months later than last year. He said much of the improvement came from the expansion of solar power plants that help cut the daily peak load.

Rajabi Mashhadi added that electricity consumption has fallen for a second consecutive year, by about 3 percent; at the decade's average annual demand growth of 5.2 percent, this year's peak demand would have reached 88,000 megawatts, but it was instead held to 75,800 megawatts. He said restrictions on industrial parks have been cut from two days to one day a week, and that under directives from the president and the energy minister, lifting all remaining restrictions on industry in the coming weeks is on the agenda.