Iran electricity exports up 30.3 percent

Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.19/ Trend F.Milad Iran exported 10.166 gigawatt hours of electricity to neighboring countries from the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20) until February 19. The amount shows 30.3 percent increase in comparison to the same period previous year, the IRIB News Agency reported. Iran currently trades power with Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Nakhchivan and Iraq. The managing director of Iran power generation transmission and distribution management company (TAVANIR), Homayoun Haeri, announced in December 2012 that Iran trades 12.3 gigawatt hours of electricity with neighboring countries. Iran plans to boost its electricity cooperation with the Persian Gulf region's countries, he said. Haeri had predicted earlier that Iran will exchange up to 15 billion kilowatt hours (BkWh) of electricity with its neighboring countries by the end of the current calendar year (March 19, 2012), up 50 percent year on year. Iran seeks to become a major regional exporter of electricity and has attracted more than $1.1 billion in investments for the construction of three new power plants. Iran's installed power generation capacity is currently about 67 gigawatts (GW). The Energy Ministry plans to increase the electricity generation capacity by 5GW this calendar year, which ends on March 20, 2013. By the end of the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (March 2016), Iran will boost its electricity generation capacity by 25 GW to reach 73 GW, Iranian Energy Minister Majid Namjou said on February 7.