TEHRAN, Iran, June 15
Trend:
Iran plans to use new opportunities to become an energy hub in the region and expand electricity export to neighbors and other countries, said Iran's Minister of Energy.
"Iran has the capacity to trade energy with its neighbors and even with Persian Gulf states," said Reza Ardakanian, Trend reports citing government website Dolat.
"Iran intends to negotiate with Qatar over energy export. A number of measures have been taken to turn Iran into the energy hub; this includes synchronizing power system of Iran and Iraq which started in November 2019, and we seek to synchronize power system with other neighbors and big countries like Russia to be connected to the network via Azerbaijan and Georgia," Ardakanian said.
"Qatar has surplus energy in certain months, so Iran can transit it to neighbor countries. Moreover, Iran has the possibility to buy electricity from Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan and export it," the minister added.
"There have been negotiations with the president of Afghanistan and other energy officials over cooperation, and the work on synchronizing network will be completed soon," he noted.
"Iran's power export during economic sanctions can provide foreign currency revenue, as the power industry needs $1 billion. Iraq is the biggest customer and thus, most foreign currency revenues can be obtained from export this country," he said.
"During my recent visit to Iraq, a new contract has been signed over electricity export for two years; meanwhile, the payment for the exported power is delayed, and the debt amounts to $400 million," the minister said.
"Iran's priority is to supply power for domestic needs. If we can save energy domestically during peak hours, we can export more," he said.