Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec.3/ Trend F.Milad/
Iran plans to build a 500 megawatt power plant in Iraq which will supply electricity to the country's southern cities of Najaf and Karbala, an official with Iran's Energy Ministry announced.
The first phase of the combined cycle AT THE Heidariya power plant would also provide the holy Shia shrines in the country with free electricity, Fars News Agency quoted Ebrahim Rahemi as saying.
Rahemi added that the first phase would be operational by next summer with a capacity of 163 megawatts (MW).
The official also announced that the 75 million-euro project was publicly funded.
Iran also plans to export 6000 megawatt hours of electricity to India and Pakistan.
Iran seeks to become a major regional exporter of electricity and has attracted more than 1.1 billion USD in investments for the construction of three new power plants.
The country is currently exporting a combination of various forms of electricity to other countries, including Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Pakistan.
The Iranian Energy Ministry announced on September 11 that the country had exported a total of 5290 gig watts per hour of electricity to neighbouring countries since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 20, 2012).