Private Energy Farms in Iran to Enjoy National Grid for Exporting Electricity

A new report on Tuesday said that electricity generated in solar and wind farms in any part of Iran can be swapped with the same amount of power from the national grid on the borders for delivery to foreign customers, based on a new decree the Energy Ministry.

Iranian Deputy Energy Minister Seyed Mohammad Sadeqzadeh said that five or six applications had already been submitted to the ministry for export of electricity through the new mechanism.

The official said both foreign and Iranian investors had shown interest in the new scheme which he said would encourage more partnership between owners of the wind and solar farms inside Iran and customers outside of the country.

The new scheme comes as Iran seeks to spur more growth in a renewables sector which is currently responsible for a tiny portion, around one percent, of the total electricity output in the country.

Statistics provided by the government in late September showed that output capacity from renewables had topped 841 megawatts (MW), a 10-percent increase from the previous month.

That comes as studies approved by international agencies suggest Iran has a capacity of 150,000 MW for production of electricity only from solar farms.

The government has launched other schemes to encourage development in the sector, including an overpricing system which pays for the electricity generated from renewables up to 30 percent more than the power produced in normal plants.

Experts believe the new scheme for swap of electricity from renewables with that from the grid on the borders would attract more investment to the sector, especially from neighboring countries, where demand for electricity is surging despite lack of sufficient production.

Early in this month, Managing Director of Iran's state-run Organization for Management of Electric Power Generation and Transmission (Tavanir) Mohammad Hassan Motevalizadeh announced that his country has exported 80% more electricity to foreign states, specially the neighboring states, in the current year, a senior official announced on Sunday.

"This year, the exports of electricity increased 80% compared with the past year (ended on March 20)," Motevalizadeh said.

He added that the neighboring states need Iran's electricity, noting that the country can turn into an energy hub in the region.

Motevalizadeh also said that Iran has attained full self-sufficiency in production of equipment used in the power industry and produces nearly all equipment needed for power plants.

Iran is currently supplying Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan with electricity.

Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian said in August that his country had exported 2.3 billion kilowatts of electricity to the neighboring countries since the start of the local calendar year on March 21.

Ardakanian said that the exports were made in the wake of proper management of electricity consumption this year, as the country suffered no power outages this summer.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he added that Energy Ministry will inaugurate 227 projects worth 330,000 billion rials including 10 big dams in 9 provinces during the Government Week.

"We have increased power generation as much as 1,800 megawatts each year since the victory of the Islamic Revolution 1997," he said.

Ardakanian further noted that over the past six years, valuable potable water projects have been commissioned in rural areas, as 10,200 villages joined water supply system.

Back in early February, Ardakanian said that the power generation of the country has increased by 11.4 times since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Ardakanian said that Iran has moved up 24 ranks in terms of generation of electricity in the past forty years.