Private Sector Set to Invest in Southern Renewable Energy

EghtesadOnline: A total of 21 private investors have been certified by the Energy Ministry to build wind farms in the small town of Mil-Nader in the southern Sistan-Baluchestan Province, Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian said on Monday.

News ID: ۷۴۲۳۰۴

21 June 2017

Chitchian made the statement during his one-day visit to the city and provincial capital of Zahedan on Monday alongside Mahammad Bagher Nobakht, government spokesperson and the head of the Planning and Budget Organization , IRNA reported.

“The prospective investments are planned to generate close to 1,000 megawatts of electricity from wind in Mil-Nader,” Chitchian noted.

A 400-kilovolt substation and some 400 kilometers of power transmission lines are to be built to supply the renewable output across the province, Financial Tribune quoted the official as saying.

The government is also making efforts to attract foreign investment in electricity infrastructure in Sistan-Baluchestan, one of the country's most deprived regions.

“Two foreign companies are ready to finance power plant projects in Zahedan," he said without providing details.

The state-run Renewable Energy Organization of Iran, SUNA, has reportedly expressed readiness to build a 50 MW wind plant and a solar plant with 10 MW  capacity in the province, but the ventures require government approval.

Data show that barely 240 megawatts, or just around 0.3% of Iran's total electricity supplies come from renewable sources.

Most power generation infrastructure in Iran is designed to burn fossil fuels. More than 80% of the country's electric output comes from thermal power plants.

Iran pledged at the Paris Climate Conference that it will curtail greenhouse gas emissions by increasing power production from renewables to 7,500 MW by the end of next decade.