Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 10/ Trend M. Moezzi /
Iran was supposed to produce 30,000 megawatts (MW) of new power plant electricity during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) reported a top energy official as saying.
Before the Islamic Revolution, Iran's power plant capacity stood at 7,000 MW, Deputy Energy Minister Ali Zabih said.
This capacity grew quickly after the revolution, reaching 38,500 MW before Ahmadinejad's election, he added.
Since Ahmadinejad was first elected to the presidency in 2005, the country's power plant capacity has grown by about 26,000 MW to reach more than 63,000 MW.
The ninth and tenth administrations have also worked on increasing Iran's water storage capacity. Iran's dams stored 12 billion cubic meters (bcm) of water in the first years after the revolution. This capacity grew to 28 bcm before Ahmadinejad was elected. Since then, the country's water storage capacity has grown to approximately 42 bcm.
The government's year-old targeted subsidies program is a major accomplishment as well, Zabihi said.
The Iranian government pays each citizen $45 a month as a compensation for a part of its commodities and energy subsides which were cut in December 2010.
In the year since the subsidies program's introduction, electricity use has decreased 3,600 MW and water use dropped about five percent.
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