Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 27
By Rahim Zamanov - Trend:
Some power plants with a capacity to produce 2000 megawatt hours of electricity will come on stream in Iran in the next summer, the managing director of the Iran Power Development Company said on Wednesday.
"The private sector's share accounts for 550 megawatt hours of the aforementioned amount," the IRNA News Agency quoted Majid Salehi as saying.
"Government-owned companies are also constructing some power plants with the capacity to produce 1400 megawatt hours of electricity," he said.
Deputy Energy Minister Sattar Mahmoudi said earlier this month that Iran annually exports eight billion kilowatt hours of electricity to neighbouring countries.
"This figure is about three per cent of the country's total output," the ILNA News Agency quoted Mahmoudi as saying.
Iran is currently among the world's top countries with regard to electricity control and transmission," he said.
Mahmoudi went on to note that Iran's production capacity has surpassed 70,000 megawatt hours.
"Iran has electricity ties with all of its neighbouring countries," he said, adding that Tehran eyes to export electricity to Europe via Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan.
"Iran has the potential to become an electricity hub in the region," he concluded.
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 currently trades power with Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.