Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 16 / Trend F.Mehdi/
Seven thermal power plants in Iran will establish steam units in the next Iranian calendar year which begins on March 21, 2013, IRNA quoted Iran Power Development Company managing director Majid Salehi as saying.
Each unit would be constructed over the course of three years and cost 3-3.5 trillion rials ($245 million-$285 million) to be built, he noted.
Steam units will improve efficiency at thermal power plants up to 52 per cent from 34 per cent, he said, adding that there are 46 thermal power plants in operation across the country.
In December 2012, Iranian Deputy Energy Minister Mohammad Behzad said Iran is the world's fourteenth leading electricity producer citing the latest statistics released by the International Energy Agency. Iran has risen two places since 2010 when it was sixteenth in the world's electricity generation, Behzad added.
And Iran ranks first in the Middle East in electricity generation, he noted.
At present, Iran's power generation capacity stands at 67 gig watts, and it is projected to hit 70GW by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2013).
Sixteen new power stations with a total capacity of 2.6GW have come on stream in the current Iranian calendar year.
Currently, Iran provides electricity to Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Iran also plans to connect its national power grid to those of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Lebanon and India in the future.