Iran’s electricity exports could hit 10BkWh

TEHRAN,May 1(MNA) - Iran is projected to export as much as 10 billion kilowatt hours (BkWh) of electricity this year, compared to 8.6BkWh last year, said the deputy energy minister. Mohammad Behzad added that the value of electricity exports has increased by 40 percent since the beginning of this year, which began on March 20, in comparison to the year before. A number of countries, including Pakistan, Turkey, Iraq and Armenia have signed new deals to boost their electricity imports from Iran, he noted. Iran’s electricity exchange with neighboring countries amounted to 1.76 gigawatts on April 27. Behzad said on April 4, the energy ministry of Iran has prepared plans to increase the electricity generation capacity of national power plants by 5 GW in the current calendar year. “Over 10,000 megawatts should be added to the generation capacity of hydroelectric and thermal power plants by August 2013,” he added. 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 electricity with Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.