Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug.15/ Trend F.Milad/
Iran's hydroelectric power plants generated 6,052 gigawatt hours (GWh) since the beginning of the current year (March 20), increasing by 4.5 percent compared to the same period last year, the IRIB reported on Wednesday.
The national hydroelectric power plants' generation capacity is estimated to be 9.246 gigawatts.
Iran ranks first in the Middle East in terms of electricity generation, an official with the Iran Power Development Company stated.
Mahmoud Dashtbozorg told the IRNA News Agency that the country is the 15th largest electricity producer in the world.
The Energy Ministry will roll out power projects that will increase Iran's electricity generation capacity by five gig watts (GW) this calendar year, which began on March 20, the deputy energy minister Mohammad Behzad said, on April 3.
He added that more than 10 GW should be added to the generation capacity of hydroelectric and thermal power plants by August 2013, the last month of President Ahmadinejad's administration, the Fars news agency reported.