RoydadNaft –  More than 92 percent of Iran’s electricity is still produced from fossil fuels, a senior Oil Ministry official revealed on Tuesday, as the government steps up efforts to expand renewable energy and ease the country’s chronic energy imbalance.

Speaking on the sidelines of a joint Oil Ministry–Energy Ministry workshop on solar power development, Omid Shakri, Deputy Oil Minister for Engineering, Research and Technology, said the administration has launched a “new path” to boost the share of renewables and reduce pressure on the national grid.

“The main task of the Oil Ministry is to supply oil, gas and petroleum products, but developing solar power plants is a symbolic yet vital step toward diversifying the country’s energy mix – something that should have started years ago,” Shakri told reporters.

Under a directive from Supreme Energy Council and President Masoud Pezeshkian, all government buildings are required to source at least 20 percent of their electricity from solar energy. The Oil Ministry alone needs to install roughly 140 megawatts of solar capacity to meet that target across the headquarters and facilities of its four main subsidiaries – National Iranian Oil Company, National Iranian Gas Company, National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, and National Petrochemical Company.

Shakri said private petrochemical companies have already expressed readiness to build more than 5,000 MW of solar capacity, while the government is offering financing packages covering up to 70 percent of investment costs for large-scale projects.

Iran’s “green electricity tariff” market, which allows renewable producers to sell power directly to consumers at premium rates, has also gained traction and is encouraging private investment without direct state funding, he added.

Despite the push for renewables, Shakri stressed that energy efficiency remains a top priority. “Optimization must always be sacred,” he said, noting that President Pezeshkian holds weekly meetings on gas imbalance and that the government is pursuing renewable targets well above the 12,000 MW mandated in the Seventh Development Plan.

Iran currently has one of the world’s highest shares of fossil fuel-based power generation, making the transition to cleaner sources critical for reducing seasonal gas shortages and easing chronic power outages.