Tehran, Iran, August 25
Trend:
The Iranian energy minister said the government is in talks with Moscow to build nuclear power plants and generate more nuclear electricity, Tasnim news agency reported.
Plans are underway to produce more nuclear power and boost the country’s national electricity grid, Reza Ardakanian said on August 25.
Last month, the country was hit by intermittent blackouts during the hot summer season when electricity demand for cooling soared.
Iranian nuclear power plants produced 1,000 megawatts of nuclear power during the hot season, the minister said.
In order to manage the situation in the future and stop the fadeouts, talks between Iran and Russia over the construction of nuclear power plants with 3,000 megawatts capacity of nuclear electricity are underway, he added.
Back in September 2016, Iran and Russia started the construction of the second unit of the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
The second unit is expected to take 9 years to complete (October 2024). Building a third unit will also begin 18 months later after that (April 2026).
A total of $10 billion has been allocated for the construction of the two units.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference in Tehran back in February, Ardakanian highlighted the country’s self-sufficiency in the area of power generation and said the Islamic Republic is the top producer of electricity in the Middle East.
About 90 percent of power generation equipment, even complicated parts like turbines and generators, are currently manufactured inside the country, the energy minister said at the time.