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Iranian MP rejects power exports halt

Business Materials 29 October 2014 17:44 (UTC +04:00)

Tehran, Iran, Oct. 29

By Milad Fashtami - Trend:

A member of the Energy Commission of Iran's parliament (Majlis) said that Iran will never stop exporting electricity.

Seyyed Mehdi Mousavinejad told Trend Agency on Oct.29 that the reports that Iran's electricity export is not economically justified are incorrect.

"Iran is facing no problem in exporting electricity," he said, adding that increasing electricity generation and exports is among the top priorities of the energy ministry.

Iran's SHANA News Agency reported on Oct. 28 that the country annually burns 65 million liters of liquid fuel in order to produce 260 billion kilowatt hours of electricity.

The country exports the surplus electricity and earns $800 million per year.

SHANA reported that 65 million liters of liquid fuel are worth some $55 billion. The country also annually spends some $5 billion to construct new power plants. So, Iran totally spends $60 billion each year to produce electricity, both for domestic consumption and exports.

According to the report, Iran can gain two times more revenues from exporting gas than feeding gas to power plants and export electricity. Iran's net power export was above 8 billion KWh last year.

Iran's IRIB News Agency reported on Oct. 22 that the country exported over 6,152.8 gigawatt hours of electricity to neighboring countries from the beginning of the current year (March 21) until Oct. 22.

The figure shows 0.37 percent increase compared to same period of time previous year.

Iran's electricity imports from neighboring countries also reached 2,124.6 gigawatt hours in the mentioned period, which is 3.89 percent less than the previous year.

Deputy Energy Minister Sattar Mahmoudi said in November 2013 that Iran annually exports 8 billion kilowatt hours of electricity to neighboring countries.

Iraq, Turkey, and Pakistan are the main importers of Iranian electricity.

"The mentioned figure is about 3 percent of the country's total output," the ILNA News Agency quoted Mahmoudi as saying.

"Iran is currently among the world's top countries in regards to electricity control and transmission," he said.

Mahmoudi went on to note that Iran's production capacity has surpassed 70,000 megawatt (263 billion Kwh).

"Iran has electricity ties with all the neighboring 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

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