Exports of electricity-related services to hit $6b: Iranian minister

TEHRAN, Nov. 13 (MNA) -- Iranian Energy Minister Majid Namjou said Iran’s exports of electricity-related technical and engineering services will reach $6 billion by the end of the current Iranian year (ending March 20, 2013). The Islamic republic has exported some $4 billion worth of technical and engineering services since the beginning of the current Iranian year, Namjou said on Monday. The Iranian minister went on to say that Iran exports about 10 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per annum and the country’s power exports reached USD one billion in the last Iranian calendar year, Press TV reported. Namjou further said that the country is currently constructing 44 new power plants with the capacity to generate 34,000 megawatts of electricity. Iran is currently exchanging electricity with Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan and plans to add 5,000 megawatts of capacity annually to its power grid. The country ranks the first in the Middle East in terms of electricity generation and is the 15th largest electricity producer in the world.