Tehran, Iran, April 21
By Kamyar Eghbalnejad – Trend:
Iran plans to turn into a regional energy hub and the country agreement with Azerbaijan is expected to contribute to the plan, an Iranian official told Trend.
The deputy head of Iran Electrical Industry Syndicate (IEIS), Payam Bagheri, has said that Iran electricity exchange deals with Azerbaijan and other neighbors are aimed at materializing the plan for turning the country into an energy hub.
On the other hand, Iran is planning to export its power to Russia through Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Azerbaijan’s main electricity producer Azerenergy JSC and Iran’s state energy company Tavanir signed an agreement on the sale of electricity, Azerbaijani Energy Ministry informed on April 12.
Under the agreement, Azerenergy will start importing 180 megawatt (MW) of electricity for the regions of Mugan and Astara in June 2018.
Iran has added 2,056 megawatts (MW) to its electric generation capacity in the last fiscal year, ended March 2018, according to a report released by the country’s energy ministry.
The nominal electric generation capacity of the country currently stands at 78,484 MW. Gas power plants (27,532 MW) share 35.1 percent of the generation capacity. Meanwhile, the shares of combined-cycle (20,270 MW) and steam power plants (15,829 MW) account for 25.8 and 20.2 percent, respectively.
The combined-cycle power plants had the highest share from the added capacity (800 MW), followed by gas power plants (558 MW) and hydroelectric stations (365 MW). Over 100 MW of the added capacity falls on renewables as well.
Nominal electric generation capacities of hydroelectric plants (11,881 MW) and Bushehr nuclear power plant (1020 MW) are equal to 15.1 and 1.3 percent of electric generation capacity, while the share of renewables stands at only 0.46 percent or 364 MW.
The ministry report also said that, Iran's power plants generated over 13,852 GWh (gigawatt hours) of electricity since the beginning of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 21) until April 6.
The country plans to increase its nominal electric generation capacity to 80,000 MW by summer 2018, and to 100,000 by 2025, 1,000 MW of which should be produced from solar energy.
Iran’s electricity export reached 354 GWh from the beginning of the current fiscal year to April 6, registering a rise by 26 percent year-on-year, meanwhile, Iran imported 198 GWh of electricity during the period, registering an 8-percent fall compared to the same period of the preceding year.