Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17
By Dalga Khatinoglu, Khalid Kazimov – Trend:
EWT, a leading wind energy technology company, eyes building localized turbines in Iran, an official with the company told Trend.
EWT has installed several turbines in the UK, Alaska, as well as China and now the company is in talks with an Iranian counterpart to enter the Middle Eastern nation’s energy market, Mark Jones, the Chief executive officer of EWT, said.
Speaking about his company’s expertise, Mark Jones said that EWT specializes in building turbines in nearby sites where turbines are planned to be installed.
This kind of projects is suitable for countries like Iran, Turkey and the Black Sea countries, he added.
But this area has its own challenges.
In Iran, most projects are done by the government, but renewable energy is the kind of projects which usually are private sector domain, Mark Jones said.
According to the producer, it will take time for Iran to build the infrastructure for renewable energy. Iran needs investments, new policies, and people to start the development process.
Renewable energy comprises 0.34 percent of Iran’s energy basket. The country relies heavily on natural gas in all sectors from industrial and electricity generation to urban.
The country plans to increase the renewables capacity to7.5 gigawatt (GW) by 2030, of which 5 GW will be commenced in the next five years.
Iran’s electricity generation stood at 286 billion kilowatts hour (kWh) over the last fiscal year (ended March 20).
According to Energy Ministry, there are projects underway to bring the country’s renewable energy output to 1.054 GW over the current year.