Azernews.Az

Iran is keen on privatizing 22 power plants during the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 21, Power sector privatization project manager Bahman Allahmoradi told the Fars News Agency.

To date, 22 power plants with a total generation capacity of 19,500 megawatts have been privatized, he said, adding that shares of 22 other power plants, valued at 180 trillion rials, will be sold to the private sector.

Deputy Energy Minister Mohammad Behzad said earlier that Iran plans to privatize 28 power plants by the end of the current calendar year (March 20, 2014).

Currently, the private sector produces 40 per cent of the country's total electricity, Behzad said, adding that the amount would reach 60 percent by the end of the current year.

Iran's power generation capacity has grown by seven per cent annually during the past 10 years. This figure averages 3.5 per cent worldwide.

Iran currently trades power with Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. In an effort to diversify its destination markets, Iran plans to export electricity to Europe and Africa.

Tehran 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.

Based on the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan, Iran should annually add 5,000 MW to its power generation capacity.

Iran plans to boost its electricity generation capacity to reach 73GW by the end of the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (March 2016).