TEHRAN (Iran News) – Eight utility projects in three provinces with the value of 175 billion Toman inaugurated on Tuesday in the presence of the energy minister through a video conference.
The projects for supplying electricity to 62 villages in 16 provinces were inaugurated by Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian in a ceremony on Tuesday.
The projects were inaugurated in the framework of the ministry’s “A-B-Iran” program in Ardebil, Ilam, East Azarbaijan, West Azarbaijan, Kerman, North Khorasan, South Khorasan, Khorasan Razavi, Khuzestan, Sistan-Baluchestan, Mazandaran, Qazvin, Kermanshah, Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad, Lorestan and Yazd provinces.
The most important part of today’s projects was unveiling the first Iranian-made 82.5 MV roto turbine in Tehran with a value of 35 billion Toman, while the imported sample cost about 90 billion Toman.
The previous producer of the turbine rotor was the American company ‘General Electric’, and although Iranian engineers did not have access to the know-how, they could develop by reverse engineering.
Hard work in six months in various engineering sections put Iran among the five countries in the world that can make this turbine rotor.
Two water treatments in Chaharmahal Bakhtiari, two solar power plants, and two distribution line projects in Isfahan were put into operation.
According to the weekly schedule by the energy ministry (every week, A, B, Iran), 62 villages in 16 provinces benefited from electricity.
Speaking at this meeting, Iranian energy minister Ardakanian called the projects a capital for the country, especially in the sanction period.
Referring to the fact that our region is in a condition which whether has no rain or a lot of rain, Ardakanian added that it had been fully scheduled and we can manage this condition well.
The minister had announced last month that electricity will be supplied to the villages with less than 10 families in the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 20).
The minister said that power supply to these villages and also supplying electricity to the nomadic areas through mobile solar panels are among the major priorities of the ministry’s A-B-Iran program.
A-B-Iran program (the acronyms A and B stand for water and electricity in Persian) was initiated in the Iranian calendar year 1398 (ended on March 19, 2020), during which the minister made several trips to various provinces for inaugurating over 220 major projects with a total investment of 335.6 trillion rials (about $7.99 billion).
Villages are often mentioned as some keys to the development of countries, and the allocation of a proper amount of budget to rural development always brings fruitful economic results.
In Iran, where villages account for generating 20-23 percent of the value added in the country, development of rural areas has been always a top agenda of the governments’ activities.
The sustainable economic, social, and cultural development of the villages is one of the major priorities of the current government, and many projects implemented and underway in this regard have led to outstanding development in the rural regions.
