TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran’s electricity generation capacity has grown by 118 megawatts (MW) following the implementation of a project to upgrade five power plants and remove their limitations, said the energy minister.

In an address to a ceremony in Tehran on Wednesday, Reza Ardakanian said the Energy Ministry has managed to expand the country’s power generation capacity with an investment equal to eight percent of the money needed for the construction of a new plant, IRNA reported.

This means that, he added, with an investment relatively smaller than what is needed for building a power plant it has become possible to make greater use of the available capitals and capacities.

The minister described the success as a great achievement for the domestic power industry.

He noted that the Energy Ministry is responsible for sustainable water and electricity supply to the people, adding that to this end, it is required to construct electricity networks as well as thermal and hydroelectric power plants.

Over the past few years, greater attention was paid to the capacities of the domestic water and electricity industries due to the imposition of US sanctions on Iran, which has led to more effective efforts for making optimum use of the available capacities and improvements in production techniques, Ardakanian said.

He added that improving the techniques has helped increase the country’s power plant capacity.

The minister noted that there had been no electricity cut-off in the country during the summer, adding that the electricity supply since June 21 has also witnessed a year-on-year increase.

He said Iran’s electricity exports have also seen a boost since the beginning of the current Iranian year (starting March 20).

Earlier, Ardakanian said the country’s electricity network will soon be linked to those of Russia and Azerbaijan in a couple of months once the synchronization studies are completed.

He added that the Iranian electricity grid could be synchronized with other grids, either through Azerbaijan, or Armenia and Georgia.

“Iran welcomes either of the two routes which gets ready first,” the minister said, adding that the three countries have agreed on a single company to implement the project.

He noted that the company has already started its work on the project.

Ardakanian described as necessary a project whose implementation is highly demanded by the three countries.

On Monday, a member of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA), said electricity exports to neighboring countries, including Pakistan, should be a priority for the Energy Ministry.

Speaking on the sidelines of a visit by an ICCIMA delegation to the Iranian Materials and Energy Research Center (MERC) in the northern province of Alborz, Hamidreza Salehi added that electricity consumption in our country is high, estimated to be 2.5 times the global average, IRNA reported.

Salehi, who serves as the head of the ICCIMA’s Energy Commission, noted that currently, 250 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity are consumed annually in Iran by households, administrative offices and the commercial-industrial sector.

He said, “Our country with an annual electricity generation of 83,000 megawatts, is ranked 14th in the world in terms of power production.”