Iran, Azerbaijan agree on power trade
By Kamila Aliyeva
Iran has concluded an agreement with Azerbaijan for the purchase of 150 megawatt of power, according to a senior Iranian official.
Iran’s Energy Minister Reza Ardakania noted that the agreement on his country’s power purchase from Azerbaijan was made during the recent visit of President Hassan Rouhani to Baku.
Speaking to Iran's Radio Economy on Friday, the minister added that the two countries currently enjoy a total capacity of 700 MW for power exchange.
In the meantime, the sides have decided to take measure aimed at synchronizing the power grids of Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia.
Iran’s nominal capacity for power generation currently stands at 78,421 MW following the connection of a number of power plants to the country’s national grid. Iran plans to add 3,000 MW to its capacity over the current fiscal year. Iran’s capabilities in the area of power generation have significantly developed over the past four decades, thus making the country the top producer of electricity in the region.
Azerbaijan enjoys a capacity of 7,172 MW. The transmission lines of both countries were synchronized in August 2016. Azerbaijan has already turned from a country importing electricity to the country exporting it. The export potential is growing, while the country enjoys the relevant infrastructure for transmission of electricity.
Power plants of Azerenergy JSC, Azerbaijan’s electricity producer, generated almost 6 billion kilowatt hour of electricity in January-March 2018 as compared to around 6.04 billion kilowatt hour in the same period 2017, Azerenergy said in a message on April 2.
Azerenergy’s power plants generated over 1.95 billion kilowatt hour of electricity in March 2018 as compared to 1.96 billion kilowatt hour in March 2017.
In 2017, Azerenergy generated 21.9 billion kilowatt hour of electricity as compared to about 22.6 billion kilowatt hour in 2016.
Iranian President concluded his two-day visit to Baku on March 29 where the sides inked eight agreements on cooperation in various sectors, including energy.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
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