Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.27/ Trend F.Mehdi/
Iran plans to expand the use of solar electricity generation systems for supplying power to houses, Abbas Kazemi, director of Iranian Fuel Conservation Company, as saying.
Some $650 million will be saved through using photovoltaic thermal hybrid solar collectors, also known as hybrid PV/T systems or PVT, in buildings, he noted.
The decision has been taken to reduce the use of natural gas in national power plants, he added.
On February 10, the Fars News Agency quoted deputy energy minister Mohammad Behzad as saying that the value of Iran's electricity exports is projected to exceed $1 billion by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20).
He added that since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year, Iran has exported over 9.2 gigawatt hours of electricity to neighboring countries.
The amount shows a 33 percent increase in comparison to the same time period during the previous year, he noted.
The managing director of the Iran Power Generation Transmission and Distribution Management Company (TAVANIR), Homayoun Haeri, announced on December 15, 2012 that Iran currently trades 12.3 gigawatt hours of electricity with neighboring countries.
Iran plans to boost electricity cooperation with Persian Gulf states, he said.
Iran currently trades power with Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan (including Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic), Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq.
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.
The Energy Ministry plans to increase electricity generation capacity by 5GW this calendar year, which ends on March 20, 2013.