Azerbaijan , Baku Oct.15/ Trend F. Milad/
Iran has exported $1 billion worth of electricity since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year, Deputy Energy Minster Mohammad Behzad said on Monday, IRNA reported.
In total, Iran exported 5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity to neighboring countries in the first half of the current year, IRNA quoted Behzad as saying.
"The amount shows 51 percent increase compared to the same period previous year", he explained.
Iran plans to export 6,000 megawatt hours of electricity to India and Pakistan, Iranian Energy Minister Majid Namjou said last week.
Namjou made the remarks after a meeting with Indian Power Minister Moodbidri Veerappa Moily in New Delhi last Tuesday.
According to Namjou the technical teams from the Islamic Republic of Iran and India will hold meetings to draw up plans for the export of 4,000 megawatt hours of electricity to India and 2,000 megawatt hours to Pakistan.
During the meeting, the two sides also highlighted the need to expand bilateral cooperation in the energy sector.
Namjou, who is on a four-day official visit to India at the invitation of the country's New and Renewable Energy Ministry, arrived in New Delhi on Monday.
Iran seeks to become a major regional exporter of electricity and has attracted more than $1.1 billion in investments for the construction of three new power plants.
Iran's installed power generation capacity is currently about 67 gigawatts (GW), Energy Minister Majid Namjou said.
The Energy Ministry plans to increase the electricity generation capacity by 5GW this calendar year, which ends on March 20, 2013.
Last year, Iran exported 8.6 billion kilowatt hours of electricity to its neighboring countries and the figure is projected to hit 10 billion kilowatt hours, he noted.
By the end of the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (March 2016), Iran will boost its electricity generation capacity by 25GW to reach 73GW, Namjou said on February 7.
Iran trades power with Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
