After the removal of sanctions against Iran, once again the country has become an attractive market for the world’s renowned energy companies so that more than €10 billion worth of energy projects has been proposed by foreign companies, Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian said on Sunday.
The minister made the remarks in a press conference which was held on the occasion of the Ten-Day Dawn (February 1-10, marking the victory anniversary of the Islamic Revolution) in Tehran.
China, Russia, South Korea, Japan, Turkey, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Britain are among the countries which have expressed willingness for contribution in Iran’s energy projects and some of them including Russia, China, Germany, South Korea and Belgium have signed deals with the country, Chitchian added.
Energy Ministry hopes to attract over €2 billion of foreign investment for the country’s energy projects by the end of current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2017), the official told the Tehran Times.
Inauguration of 5,314 energy projects during Ten-Day Dawn
According to the official some 5,314 energy-related projects worth €2.587 billion are scheduled to be launched or put into operation during the Ten-Day Dawn, of which 4,860 projects will be in electricity sector.
He also mentioned the electricity exports to Iraq saying, “We have been negotiating with Iraq for the resumption of electricity exports to the country but so far there has been no agreement and the exports are still halted.”
100MW capacity of renewable energy to go online by March 20
Elsewhere in his remarks Chitchian noted that 100 megawatts (MW) capacity of renewable energy will be added to the country’s electricity capacity by the end of current Iranian calendar year of which 48MW will go online during the Ten-Day dawn.
He went on saying that some 164MW capacity of Small-scale power plants will also be inaugurated in the mentioned time span.
The country has it on the agenda to add over 700MW capacity of renewable power plants to the country’s energy sector in the next fiscal year (starting from March 21).
Touching upon the guaranteed purchase of electricity generated through renewable energy, the minister said that to support the producers and private sector investors, the government has offered various programs including guaranteed power purchasing, holding tenders, and welcoming private sector investors in a variety of areas.
Further in his remarks the official assured investors and producers about financial support and noted that the Energy Ministry has no problem regarding the payments and finance related to the renewable contractors.
He also said that there will be no change in the power purchase prices at least not until the end of Iranian calendar year of 1396
Tehran Times
29 January
