In the presence of Iranian President Ibrahim Raeisi and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iran’s Mehdi Moghimzadeh and Turkey’s Orhan Kaldirim signed the contract for the connection of the 400-kilovolt BtB HVDC line between Khoy (Iran) and Van (Turkiye) during a meeting in Ankara on Wednesday.

Moghimzadeh said that the operation requires state-of-the-art equipment and is also Iran's first experience in cross-border grid connection via HVDC infrastructure.

The pilot operation of the BtB HVDC was successfully carried out last year, the Iranian manager said, adding that the new agreement paves the way for real operation, which can create an opportunity to exchange power with Turkiye and some European countries.