Baku, Azerbaijan, April 1
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
Iranian Deputy Minister of Energy Houshang Falahatian said that the country will boost its electricity production by 10 gigawatts in the first half of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 21 to September 22).
The official noted that the Energy Ministry has currently contracted power plant constructions worth 200 trillion rials (over $7 billion, at the current dollar rate of 28,000 rials), Mehr news agency reported April 1.
Iran's power generation capacity rose 2,831 megawatt (MW) to 73, 109 MW last Iranian fiscal year.
Iran added 1,558- MW of natural gas power plants, 644-MW of combined-cycle power plants and 520-MW of hydropower plants to its power generation capacity from March 21, 2014 to March 3, 2015.
Falahatian pointed out that in the past Iranian year, the ministry acted successfully in funding power plant construction, evidenced by an increase of 50 trillion rials (about $1.8 billion) resource provision compared to the preceding year.
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.
Iran is currently trading electricity with Armenia, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iraq, and Afghanistan.