Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 6
By Fatih Karimov- Trend:
Iranian energy minister, Hamid Chitchian said that the Swedish companies will take part in Iran's renewable energy and water projects.
Chitchan made the remarks during a meeting with Swedish Enterprise Minister Mikael Damberg on visit to Tehran on Dec. 5.
The Iranian minister expressed hope that the Swedish companies' presence will pave a way for boosting Iran-Sweden mutual economic ties, the official IRNA news agency reported Dec. 6.
Chitchian further said that the Swedish companies can cooperate with Iran's energy ministry in various fields including urban and rural water purification, water consumption and demand management, as well as construction of sewage systems.
Construction of distributed generation (DG), as well as combined heat and power (CHP) plants is a priority for the energy ministry, he said, adding Iran is determined to increase power generation capacity by 50,000 MW in next 10 years.
Iran's power generation capacity currently stands at around 74,000 MW, of that some 12,000 MW is generated via hydroelectric power plants, 1000 MW via nuclear power plant and the remaining is produced by thermal power plants.
The Swedish firms with respect to new technologies at their disposal can participate in water purification projects and cooperate with energy ministry in reducing nitrate and heavy metals in drinking water.
Damberg voiced his country's willingness to boost cooperation with Iran and invest in the country's water and electricity sectors.
"Iran has always been the top market in the Middle East for Sweden and during the era of sanctions, the Swedish companies' activities in Iran have never stopped," the Swedish minister said.
"Over the past two or three years, trade ties between Iran and Sweden have been on the rise," Damberg said, adding that the Swedish firms are ready for any kind of cooperation with Iran in the fields of solar, wind and hydropower energy, water and wastewater as well as thermal power generation.