Iraq stops Iranian electricity transit
Azerbaijan , Baku , Oct.13/ Trend F.Milad/
Iraq has refused to continue transiting Iranian electricity to Syria and Lebanon, Iranian Deputy Energy Minister Mohammad Behzad said on Saturday.
"Iraq agreed to transit Iranian electricity to Syria and Lebanon, but now has stopped the flow after just one week," the ISNA News Agency reported quoted Mohammad Behzad as saying.
"Iraq has not completely paid for its electricity imports yet," he said adding that the neighboring country still insists on continuing power imports from Iran.
According to the Iranian Energy Minister, Majid Namjou, Tehran is exporting electricity in the amount of $70-80 million to Iraq on a monthly basis.
In August Iran announced that the nation's electricity exports to neighboring Iraq have increased by 50 percent since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year , which begins on March 20.
The national power generation capacity currently stands at 65.2 GW, Deputy Energy Minister Mohammad Behzad said on April 3.
Behzad noted that the Energy Ministry plans to increase the electricity generation capacity by 5 gigawatts (GW) this calendar year.
By the end of the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (March 2016), Iran will boost its electricity generation capacity by 25GW to reach 73GW, Energy Minister Majid Namjou said on February 7.
Iran currently sells electricity to Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
