Managing Director of the Iranian Water & Power Resources Development Company Mohammad Reza Rezazadeh said the nominal capacity of Iran's hydropower plants stands at 9.246 MW, adding that the country has generated 6.025 Gigawatt hours of hydropower in the 1st five months of current Iranian year.
He went on to say that six new hydropower plants will go on stream by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (to end March 20, 2013), and added that two units of Gotvand Dam power plant as well as four units of Siah Bisheh pumping storage plant with a total capacity of 1,500 MW will be put into operation by March 20.
Iran has recently made huge investment in the energy sector. In October, the Iranian energy minister offered bonds for the construction of new hydroelectric power plants.
The energy ministry offered the public 2.7 trillion rials (about $243 million) in bonds to fund the completion of its hydroelectric plants.
Also, Iranian Energy Minister Majid Namjou announced early in December that the country had worked out agreements with Russia and Turkey to build joint power plants for power export to other countries.
"At present, we have reached an agreement with the two countries with investment and technical capabilities to build joint power plants to export the generated electricity to the neighboring or other countries," Namjou said.
He continued saying that the Iranian and Turkish sides agreed to build a power plant in Iran so that Ankara can import the generated electricity or transfer it to a third country.
Iran started implementing a subsidy reform plan two years ago. According to official reports, the plan has not only checked the country's annual growth in power demand, but also lowered domestic consumption, thus paving the way for increased power exports to the neighboring countries.
Iran has power swap deals with Armenia, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Afghanistan and the autonomous region of Nakhichevan. The rate of exchanges hit 1,332 megawatts on August 2.
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Iran' hydropower plant capacity has experienced a 5.4% growth in the 1st five months of the current Iranian year (March 20-August 21), energy officials said, adding that the country's production will increase by 1,500 MW in the next 7 months.
News ID 182515
