BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 6. Iran has achieved $26 billion in cost savings through the operation of its hydropower plants (HPP) by late September of the current Iranian year (September 22, 2025).
Data obtained by Trend from the Iran Water Resources Management Company (IWRMC) indicates that around $20 billion of these savings came from reduced fossil fuel consumption, while $6 billion was saved by preventing the release of environmental pollutants.
Meanwhile, the use of HPP during this period helped conserve 43 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 7.5 billion liters of diesel and fuel oil, preventing the emission of 121 million tons of greenhouse gases.
In total, Iran’s HPP produced more than 212,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity. The country’s hydropower potential stands at 12,000 megawatts, with 9,000 megawatts currently operated by the IWRMC.
To note, the initial reference to hydropower in Iran can be traced back to nascent initiatives in the 1990s; however, the inception of substantial hydroelectric power plants was conceptualized in the early 2000s, with their construction facilitated through international collaboration commencing in the late 1990s. In 2019, Iran initiated its inaugural hydroelectric facility utilizing a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) framework, engaging private sector participation.
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