Iran keen on building small power plants

Iran's Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian said construction of small power plants is a priority for the ministry.

"Construction of small power plants neglected for years and now is one of the major policies of the ministry," Chitchian said, IRNA news agency reported.

Chitchian made the remarks during the inaugural ceremony of constructing a small combined cycle power plant in the city of Zarand in southeastern Kerman province.

The electricity which is produced in small power plants is consumed in the same region, the minister said, adding the plants do not need to transfer electricity far away and have a significant role in electricity saving.

"We will be able to save 20 percent on electricity thanks to small power plants," he underlined.

Earlier Chitchian said that Iran is currently losing about 23 percent of its produced energy due to unauthorized uses and wastes in electric transmission network.

Iran's total electricity generation capacity has surpassed 71,000 megawatts recently. The power generation capacity in Iran has grown by 7 percent annually during the past 10 years.

According to the Iranian Energy Ministry's annual report, the country produced 263 billion kilowatt hours (KWh) of electricity, while it exported above 11.7 billion KWh and imported 3.7 billion KWh during the last fiscal year (ended on March 21)

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