Iran electricity exports up 24 percent

TEHRAN,Nov.12 (MNA)I -- Iran exported over 4,870 gigawatt hours of electricity since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (began on March 21), showing 24 percent growth year on year, Iran`s Energy Ministry reported on Friday. The deputy Iranian energy minister has predicted that the country’s electricity exports would amount to $1 billion by the end of the current calendar year. Mohammad Behzad said that three billion dollars worth of technical and engineering services will be also exported by the yearend. "Iran currently exchanges electricity with Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq," he said. This year, the volume of Iran's electricity export to Iraq reached the highest rate," he said. "The country imported 100 million kilowatt hour," he added.