Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 22/ Trend F.Milad/
A Chinese company has invested $500 million in building a coal-fired power plant in Tabas, central Iran, the deputy energy minister announced on Wednesday.
Mehr news agency quoted Mohammad Behzad as saying that the power plant will have the capacity of generating 650 megawatts of electricity per day.
The project is scheduled to be completed within 74 months, he said, adding that the administration has prepared plans to establish coal-fired plants with the total capacity of 5000 megawatts.
By the end of the fifth five-year economic development plan (2015), Iran will boost its electricity generation capacity by 25 gig watts (GW) to reach 73GW, Energy Minister Majid Namjou said on February 7. The country's installed power generation capacity is currently about 64GW, he added.
The country's electricity exports will amount to $1 billion by the end of the current calendar year (March 19, 2012). Iran currently exchanges electricity with Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.