According to a report published by Fars News Agency on Sunday, Iran boosted its power supplies to Iraq yesterday, and exported 1,139 MW of electricity to the Arab country. The Islamic Republic also imported 306 MW of electricity from Armenia.
The report added that the total volume of Iran's electricity exports to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Turkey amounted to 1,392 MW on Saturday, while the total volume of imports from Armenia and Turkmenistan reached 353 MW.
Iraqi Aswat al-Iraq news agency reported last month that a new Iranian electricity supply line had started operations, carrying 100 MW of imported electricity from Iran.
The new line is aimed at meeting the 550 MW of power demanded by the central Iraqi Province of Wasit as it currently only receives less than 150 MW from Iraq’s national grid, and wrestles with frequent power outages.
Iran is currently exchanging electricity with Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Syria, Turkmenistan and Turkey.
Earlier in February, Iran's Energy Minister Majid Namjou said the country was planning to export electricity to Syria and Lebanon through Iraq’s power grid.
He said Iran is capable of exporting 1,000 MW of power to Iraq, adding that Syria had also demanded 500 MW of electricity from Iran.
Seeking to become a major regional exporter of electricity, Iran has attracted more than USD1.1 billion in investments to build three new power plants.
By the end of the 5th Economic Development Plan (2010-2015), Iran will boost its electricity generation capacity by 25GW to reach 73GW, according to the Iranian energy minister.
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Iran’s electricity exports to Iraq have stood at 1,139 megawatts (MW) as the Islamic Republic is helping its western neighbor to overcome regular electricity blackouts.
News ID 182114
