Iran to connect its power grid to Russia

• 12 years ago (2012-01-13)
• David Flin

Europe 1061 Middle East 312

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According to the Tehran Times, Homayoun Haeri, Managing Director of Iran Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution Management Company (TAVANIR), said that Iran plans to connect its national power grid to Russia by March 2013. He added that Iran will exchange up to 15 TWh of electricity with its neighbouring countries by the end of the current year, up by 50 percent year-on-year.

The Iranian Deputy Energy Minister, Mohammas Behzad, said that the country is ready to connect its national power grid to Russia through Azerbaijan.

Iran currently exchanges electricity with Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan, and is planning to add 5000 MW to its grid capacity annually. According to the Iranian Energy Ministry, the country will be earning up to $1 billion though electricity exports annually by March 2012.

Iran seeks to become a major regional exporter of electricity, and has attracted more than $1 billion in investments to build three new power plants.

Iran’s total power generation capacity currently stands at over 63 GW, while the total length of the power grid exceeds 780,000 km. Exchange of electricity with neighbouring countries reached 1341 MW by the end of 2010, with Armenia being the top exporter of electricity to Iran (237 MW), while Iraq was the top importer of Iranian electricity (650 MW).