Iranian authorities have turned off the lights along Tehran's highways to save energy as the country struggles to cope with a shortage of fuel amid increased demand during winter.
Iran has one of the largest reserves of natural gas but its power sector suffers from a lack of investment, partly because of years of western sanctions.
The highway lights have been switched off for the past two months, deputy director of Tehran's electricity company Alireza Rezaei told official news agency IRNA on Tuesday. Despite safety concerns, the blackout will continue “as long as there is an energy imbalance”, he said.
Mr Rezaei said two-hour power cuts were planned at different times in different locations, and residents would be notified in advance by text message.
Iran's traffic police warned that the lack of lighting would increase road accidents and crime at night, while Tehran's city council urged police to use warning lights to make road signs visible to drivers.
“We have repeatedly warned about lights being off and I wish these lights would use solar energy so that we would no longer witness them being cut off,” Mehdi Chamran, head of Tehran City Council, was quoted as saying by the Isna news agency.
Iran's Communications Ministry reported disruptions to phone and internet services because of power cuts. Schools and public offices across most of the country were closed for a third consecutive day on Tuesday, and authorities also reduced the opening hours of shopping centres.
Sub-zero temperatures in the majority of Iran's 31 provinces have added to the burden on energy supplies, according to state media. Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi called for people's co-operation in decreasing fuel consumption, attributing the current shortage to air pollution and changes in weather which led to a surge in demand for electricity.
President Masoud Pezeshkian, an advocate of reducing fuel consumption, urged Iranians to wear warmer clothes at home to reduce the need for heaters. He apologised to the nation on Monday and promised that the issue would be resolved in the coming year.
Gas-fuelled power plants in Lorestan and Golestan provinces were partially shut down earlier this week in what the government framed as an environmental protection measure. Last month, Iran said it halted gas exports to Iraq in order to carry out pipeline repairs.
Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said Iran country was close to securing imports of electricity to meet the high demand, without mentioning the supplier countries. Iran imported electricity from Turkmenistan in June to meet the high demand during summer.
Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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