BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 16
By Sara Riazi – Trend:
The development of the renewable energy sector in Iran can create conditions for more efficient use of fossil fuels, Spokesman for Iran’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization, Jafar Mohammadnejad Sigaroudi told Trend.
The official noted that there are a lot of discussions being conducted about when fossil energy reserves will be depleted in Iran.
He added that oil and gas reserves can be used for larger purposes. Burning these reserves for electricity generation is the worst option.
Sigaroudi said that fossil fuel reserves can be used in the production of thousands of products in various sectors. In addition, Iran is one of the countries with renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy.
According to the spokesman, discussions have been conducted in Iran to determine the amount of fuel savings in the budget for about 10 years. Finally, 25 trillion rials (about $595 million) will be acquired in Iran’s budget for the current year through fossil fuel savings.
"In this regard, an agreement was reached between the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Petroleum of Iran. According to the agreement, the money of fuels saved via the construction of renewable energy power plants in Iran will be provided to the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization. In this way, the organization will be able to pay investors on time and take big steps in this field," he said.
Sigaroudi emphasized that if there is economic development and a number of problems (coronavirus pandemic, inflation, sanctions, etc.) are solved, the development of renewable energy power plants will be met with great sympathy by the private sector.
Reportedly, about 5.91 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity were generated in renewable power plants in Iran in the last Iranian year (from March 20, 2020, through March 20, 2021).
At present, the capacity of Iran's renewable energy power plants is 875 megawatt-hours.