TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian announced that his country will continue electricity export to Iraq by renewing earlier contracts. “Iran has signed a 3-year-long cooperation agreement with Iraq to help the country’s power industry in different aspects. The documents state at its end that we will export electricity to Iraq as […]
TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian announced that his country will continue electricity export to Iraq by renewing earlier contracts.
“Iran has signed a 3-year-long cooperation agreement with Iraq to help the country’s power industry in different aspects. The documents state at its end that we will export electricity to Iraq as far as they need,” Ardakanian told FNA on Monday.
The contract to “export Iran’s electricity” to Iraq will be extended, he added.
Ardakanian also said that Iran and Iraq’s power grids have become synchronized since a month ago.
In 2004 Iran started selling electricity to Iraq. Iran’s electricity exports to the western neighbor are at their highest level of 1,361 megawatts per day now.
The new Amarah-Karkheh 400-KV transmission line stretching over 73 kilometers, is now synchronized to provide electricity to both countries. It also paves the way for increasing export to power-hungry Iraq in the near future.
With the synchronization of the two grids, the quality of electricity in Iraq will improve.
According to official data, 82% of Iraq’s electricity is generated by thermal power plants that use gas as feedstock. This is expected to reach 84% by 2027.
Iraq is one of the major importers of electricity from Iran. The Arab country is a strategic market for all Iranian industries including the energy sector and according to agreements reached between the two countries’ energy ministries, the two sides are going to execute joint projects in the electricity sector over three years (or three stages) of 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Tehran Times has contributed to the story.
- source : FNA, Iran News
