Source: Press TV

Iran's electricity network has integrated to power grids of seven neighboring countries to meet their energy demands, says Iranian Energy Minister Majid Namjou.

Iran ranks the 19th largest producer and 20th largest consumer of electricity in the world.

Iran's electricity grid is currently connected to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, Namjou told IRNA on Sunday.

The Iranian minister further pointed out that Tehran also plans to connect its national power network to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Earlier this year, Namjou said that Russia, India, Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, Syria and Oman are the new countries that have asked Iran for electricity.

According to the Iranian minister, the Islamic Republic has the capability to turn into a regional electricity hub.

"Iran exchanges electricity with most of its neighbors and many of them are interested in increasing their electricity exchange with Iran" Mehr news agency quoted Namjou as saying.

Iran plans to connect its power grid to Russia via Azerbaijan as well as linking to the Persian Gulf states via sub-sea cabling.

The minister also stated that Iran has attracted more that 1.1 billion dollars in investment to build three new power plants.

"Germany has invested $445 million in construction of the Pareh-Sar combined cycle power plant, while the UAE has invested $720 million in construction of the Esfahan gas power plant and the Fars combined cycle power plant," Namjou concluded.

Related Article: Photos: Power outages in Iran idle factories and workforce

... Payvand News - 09/05/10 ... --