Azerbaijan, Baku, May 11/ Trend F. Karimov/
Iran is going to increase its electricity generation capacity by 6 gigawatts (GW), IRNA quoted Iranian Energy Minister Majid Namjou as saying.
Through converting 12 thermal power plants to combined cycle ones, the country's electricity generation capacity will be increased by 6 GW without any fuel consumption increase, he added.
The number of power plants constructed by Iran exceeds two times the world average, Mehr News Agency quoted deputy energy minister Mohammad Behzad as saying.
The power generation capacity in Iran has been growing by 7 percent annually during the last 10 years, he said, adding that the figure has averaged 3.5 percent in the world.
The country's power generation capacity is currently 68.38 GW, he added.
Iran exported 11.054 billion kWh of electric power to its neighboring countries during the last Iranian calendar year which ended on March 20.
The volume of electric power exports rose by 29 percent year on year.
Iran also imported 3.968 billion kWh of electric power last year, demonstrating a 8-percent growth year on year.
Iran currently trades electric 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.