Iran can export 10,000 MW of electricity: Deputy energy min.

Iran’s deputy energy minister for electricity and energy affairs says the country can export 10,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity per year.
“Many neighboring countries seek to import electricity from Iran and we can export an extra 8,000 MW besides the current 2,000 MW,” Mohammad Behzad said on Thursday.

The Iranian official also announced that Iran exported a total of 7.8 billion gigawatts per hour (GW/h) of electricity in the previous Persian calendar year (ended March 19, 2012), which is expected to exceed 10 billion GW/h this year.

“In general we expect Iran’s electricity export to increase 40 percent this year compared to last [Iranian calendar] year,” Behzad added.

The Iranian Energy Ministry announced on September 11 that the country had exported a total of 5,290 GW/h of electricity to neighboring countries since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 20, 2012).

Electricity consumption has decreased considerably in Iran since the implementation of the subsidy reform plan, which paved the way for more electricity exports to Azerbaijan, Armenia, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

The subsidy reform plan, which began in late 2010, has enabled the Iranian government to begin to gradually reduce energy subsidies over the course of five years, with low-income families compensated with direct cash handouts.

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.