"As soon as the Cabinet approved the budget bill, SUNA—an affiliate of the Energy Ministry—cleared its total debt that had exceeded $23 million," Seyyed Mohammad Sadeqzadeh was also quoted as saying by ISNA.
According to the official, the cost of purchasing power from renewable plants is mostly covered through the sale of electricity and the Cabinet allocates a budget to meet the other expenses.
"SUNA has guaranteed the purchase of electricity from renewable power producers," he said, adding that such incentives will encourage domestic and foreign investments in expanding renewable sources of energy, Financial Tribune reported.
Sadeqzadeh added that the rapidly declining cost of photovoltaic energy is driving a global shift from dirty to clean energy.
Reportedly, Germany, Italy, India, the US and China top the list of countries that have successfully harnessed solar energy to produce electricity.
"The share of renewables in Iran’s energy mix is as low as 400 MW, although it has huge potentials to harness renewable energies, including geothermal, solar and wind power," he said.
According to Homayoun Haeri, a senior official at the Energy Ministry, concerted efforts should be made to reduce consumption of fossil fuels not only to address environmental concerns but also to save on non-renewable resources.
Iran has a diverse climate of vast windy lands and more than 300 sunny days throughout the year, which makes it ideal to tap into wind and solar energies.
The Energy Ministry says it hopes to launch 1,000 MW of renewable capacity a year through 2022 with the help of the private sector.