Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 6.
By Rahim Zamanov - Trend: Iran annually exports eight billion kilowatt hours of electricity to neighbouring countries, Deputy Energy Minister Sattar Mahmoudi said on Wednesday.
"The figure is about three per cent of the country's total output," the ILNA News Agency quoted Mahmoudi as saying.
Iran is currently among the world's top countries with regard to electricity control and transmission," he said.
Mahmoudi went on to note that Iran's production capacity has surpassed 70,000 megawatt hours.
"Iran has electricity ties with all its neighbours," he said, adding that Tehran eyes exporting electricity to Europe via Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan.
"Iran has the potential to become an electricity hub in the region," he concluded.
The country 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.
Five phases of South Pars gas field will come on stream by the end of the Iranian month of Shahrivar (September 22), the Iranian oil minister said on Friday.
Deputy Energy Minister Mohammad Behzad said in July that Iran has constructed twice as many power plants as the average number constructed in the world during the past decade, the Mehr News Agency reported.
Power generation capacity in Iran has grown by seven per cent annually during the past 10 years, he said, adding that the figure has averaged 3.5 per cent in the world.
The country's power generation capacity is currently at 68.38 gig watts, he added.
Iran currently trades power with Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.