Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. Mar. 5
By Rahim Zamanov - Trend:
Iran officially inaugurated the last electricity generation unit of the Paresar combined cycle power plant in the northern city of Rasht in Gilan province, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported on Mar. 5.
The unit has the capacity to produce 160 megawatt hours of electricity.
The power plant's total generation capacity currently stands at 968 Megawatt hours.
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.
Based on the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan, Iran should annually add 5000 MW to its power generation capacity.
Iran plans to boost its electricity generation capacity to reach 73GW, by the end of the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (March 2016).
Managing Director of Iran's power generation transmission and distribution management company (TAVANIR), Homayoun Haeri, said on Feb. 22 that Tehran is currently 95 per cent self-sufficient in producing the electricity industry's needs for its facilities.
According to Haeri, Iran currently exports electricity to all neighbouring countries.
"Iran annually exports 15 billion kilowatt hours of electricity," he said. "It is the world's 14th largest electricity producer and ranks first in the Middle East. Iran is also on top of the list of world's top electricity consumer nations."
Iran currently trades power with Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.
Edited by SM