Baku, Azerbaijan, June 15
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: The Iranian Energy Ministry backs the private sector to build renewable energy power plants, Iranian Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian said.
The ministry is not allowed to invest directly in the construction of renewable energy power plants, he said, adding that the private sector should invest in such projects, Iran 's IRIB quoted Chitchian as saying June 15.
The ministry will provide investors with 80-90 percent of budget they need in loans, he added. "In return, we will buy electricity as much as they generate," he noted.
He said that the time for guaranteed purchase of electricity has been extended from five years to 20 years.
He also said that each kilowatt of electricity will be purchased at 4600 rials (about 14 cents), compared to the selling price of electricity, which is 560 rials (about 2 cents) per kilowatt.
In March, Chitchian said some 55 percent of thermal power plants in Iran have been transferred to the private sector. Majid Salehi, managing director of Iran 's Power Industry Development Organization, said in August 2014 that 12 new thermal power plants have been put into operation, of which six power plants have been established by the private sector.
"The 12 power plants have a total power generation capacity of 1934 megawatts," he noted.
Iran's electricity generation capacity is currently 68,932 megawatts, of which 57,541 megawatts is generated by thermal power plants, 9,686 megawatts is generated by hydroelectric power plants, 1,020 megawatts is generated by nuclear power plants, 466 megawatts is generated by distributed generation power plants, and 219 megawatts is generated by renewable energy power plants.
Edited by CN