Azernews.Az

Iran will start the construction of a power plant on Qeshm Island, the managing director of Qeshm Island Free Trade Zone said.

The plant will have the capacity to produce 3000 MW of electricity, IRNA news agency quoted Esfandiar Heydaripour as saying.

"The plant will also have a desalination unit to sweeten the water, so we can be able to export both water and electricity to the Persian Gulf region's countries," he said.

According to Heydaripour, the project will be carried out jointly by the Qeshm Island Free Trade Zone, National Iranian Oil Company and Iran Power Plant Projects Management Company (MAPNA).

The managing director of the National Iranian Offshore Oil Company Mahmoud Zirakchianzadeh said in December that Iran plans to generate 12,000 megawatt hours of electricity in Qeshm Island in order to export it to the Persian Gulf region's Arab countries.

Iran plans to make Qeshm Island an electricity hub in the region, Mehr news agency quoted Mahmoud Zirakchianzadeh as saying.

He went on to note that Qashm Island has enough gas supply to generate electricity for 30 years.

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.

Iran's installed power generation capacity is currently about 67 gig watts (GW).

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

Iran currently trades power with Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.