TEHRAN, Iran, July 16
Trend:
Iran has the capability of exchanging energy with neighboring countries, as it imports electricity from one or two countries and exports the power wherever possible, but the priority of the country is to meet domestic needs, Iran Minister of Energy said.
The hot weather and the coronavirus spread increased water and electricity consumption, Reza Ardakanian added.
"The water resources are almost sufficient now, but the supplies of fresh water depend not only on the volume of water resources, but also on the capacity of treatment plants," the minister told reporters on the sidelines of the cabinet meeting on July 16, Trend reports citing IRNA.
Talking about inauguration of the Bashagard irrigation project, Ardakanian said: "Tomorrow this big project will be put into operation and the people of Bashagard will receive quality water."
He added that water and electricity projects worth of $642 million are planned to be inaugurated in Hormozgan province during the 11th week of the ministry's A-B-Iran scheme.
"One of the most important projects of the water industry is Bandar Abbas desalination plant, which will produce 20,000 cubic meters of water of very good quality,” the minister said. "In addition, a gas power plant unit with a capacity of 175 MW will be put into operation in Qeshm and 115-MW capacity Bandar Abbas power plant will be modernized."
"Furthermore, a number of transmission and distribution projects will be launched to provide electricity to the cities of Minab and Sirik,” he noted said.
A-B-Iran scheme (the acronyms A and B stand for water and electricity in Persian) was initiated in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19, 2020), during which the minister made 31 trips to various provinces for inaugurating over 220 major projects with a total investment of 335.6 trillion rials (about $7.99 billion).