Iran’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology Seyed Sattar Hashemi said on Monday that to implement smart energy management projects and energy credit plans, it is required to complete data infrastructure projects, integrate information databases, and establish transparency in the consumption system.
He made the statement in a meeting with the Head of the Energy
Optimization and Strategic Management Organization Esmail Saqqab Esfahani
during which the implementation of the smart energy consumption project in the
country was discussed and reviewed.
“The absence of smart energy consumption is noticeable. In
past years, greater attention has been given to production and less to the
consumption sector,” Hashemi said, “In my view, the energy ecosystem is the
driving force behind the other ecosystems.”
The minister noted that issuing saving certificates (tokens) and
implementing mechanisms based on energy credit without establishing transparent
information infrastructures would face serious challenges.
“Until foundational systems such as postal codes, location
identifiers, and the databases of government agencies are updated in an
integrated and accurate manner, effective and fair policymaking in the energy
sector will not be possible.”
Hashemi emphasized that the two paths of “creating technical
infrastructure” and “designing incentive mechanisms such as energy credits”
complement each other and must be designed in a way that reinforces one
another.
Data Infrastructure before Credit Policies
Referring to existing experiences with national information
databases, the ICT minister stressed: “The lack of accurate data regarding the
number and status of production, industrial, and service units, or
inconsistencies in statistics, indicates that any energy credit system or
savings tokens must be built on reliable data foundations.”
“Smart energy management is not a concept limited to a
specific sector; rather, it encompasses a chain of reforms throughout the
governance structure which if realized, can address a significant portion of
the country’s structural issues.”
He introduced a pilot project for smart energy consumption in
the main buildings of the ICT Ministry and said, “It will determine the extent
of energy savings achieved.”
Hashemi also expressed readiness of the ICT Ministry to
cooperate with the Energy Optimization and Strategic Management Organization and
added: “The ICT ministry is prepared to place its legal tools, supervisory
capacities, and technical infrastructures at the disposal of this project.
The Head of the Energy Optimization and Strategic Management
Organization Esmail Saqqab Esfahani welcomed the proposal on the energy
ecosystem at the meeting, describing it as complementary to the saving
certificates and energy credit plan.
“If the section related to managing people’s utility bills is
launched as soon as possible within this system, it will enable citizens to
manage their energy consumption and obtain savings certificates,” said the
vice-president.
At the end of the meeting, both sides agreed to accelerate
the drafting of the executive plan, determine the financing model for the
projects, and sign joint memorandums of understanding to start taking steps in
the field of smart energy management.