Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Director of the Iranian Fuel Conservation Company Abbas Kazemi announced that Iran plans to expand the use of solar electricity generation systems for supplying power to houses.

He noted that some $650 million will be saved through using photovoltaic thermal hybrid solar collectors, also known as hybrid PV/T systems or PVT, in buildings.

The decision has been taken to reduce the use of natural gas in national power plants, Kazemi added.

Besides, Deputy Energy Minister Mohammad Behzad stated that Iran has constructed power plants twice as many as the average number of power plants which have been constructed in the world during the past decade.

The power generation capacity in Iran has grown by 7 percent annually during the past 10 years, Behzad said, adding that the figure has averaged 3.5 percent in the world.

Iran's power generation capacity is currently at 68.38 gigawatts.

Earlier Behzad said that the value of Iran's electricity exports is projected to exceed $1 billion by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20).

He added that Iran has exported over 9.2 gigawatt hours of electricity to neighboring countries since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year.

The figure shows a 33- percent increase compared to the same time period of the previous year, he noted.

Iran seeks to become a major regional exporter of electricity and has attracted more than $1.1 billion in investments for the construction of three new power plants.

The Energy Ministry plans to increase electricity generation capacity by 5GW this calendar year, which ends on March 20, 2013.

Iranian Energy Minister Majid Namjou had said previously that by the end of the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (March 2016), Iran will have boosted its electricity generation capacity by 25GW to reach 73GW.

Iran currently trades power with Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan (including Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic), Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq. The country also plans to boost electricity cooperation with Persian Gulf states.