Iran seeks to trade electricity with Russia, Azerbaijan

Iran plans to trade electricity with Russia and Azerbaijan, the country’s Deputy Energy Minister Esmaeel Mahsouli said.
He said that Iran plans to trade 500 megawatt of electricity with Russia, Iran’s ISNA News Agency reported.
Mahsouli said that based on the agreement, Iran will import the mentioned amount in summer, and export the same amount in winter.
The electricity will be transferred through Azerbaijan, with which Iran plans to trade about 200 megawatt of electricity.
“We will start with trading 100 megawatt and eventually increase the figure to 200 megawatts,” he said.
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.
The country currently trades power with Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq.
Deputy Energy Minister Sattar Mahmoudi said in November 2013 that Iran annually exports 8 billion kilowatt hours of electricity to neighboring countries.
Iran’s production capacity has surpassed 71,000 megawatt hours.