Iran to roll out 5GW of power projects this year

TEHRAN,April 4(MNA) – The Energy Ministry will roll out power projects that will increase Iran’s electricity generation capacity by 5 gigawatts (GW) this calendar year, which began on March 20, said the deputy energy minister. Mohammad Behzad said that over 10 GW should be added to the generation capacity of hydroelectric and thermal power plants by August 2013, the last month of President Ahmadinejad’s administration. Iran has indigenized the technology for developing thermal and combined cycle power plants, the director of Iran Power Plant Projects Management Company said on February 27. Abbas Aliabadi told that Iran exports power plant technical and engineering services to different countries and said that Iran is currently building seven large power plants in Syria, Oman, Iraq, and Tajikistan. By the end of the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2015), Iran will boost its electricity generation capacity by 25GW to reach 73GW, Energy Minister Majid Namjou said on February 7. Iran currently trades power with Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq.