TEHRAN (Iran News) Speaking to IRNA, Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi said that the volume of electricity exported to the two neighboring countries currently stands at 150 megawatts, while Iran continues to import around 450 megawatts of power from Armenia and Turkmenistan.

Rajabi Mashhadi noted that the current level of exports is expected to remain unchanged unless new agreements or urgent developments arise in regional energy exchanges.

“At the moment, there are no immediate plans to increase exports,” he added.

On August 27 this year the Tavanir chief had stated that Iran’s electricity exports had dropped to their lowest level—nearly zero—due to domestic supply imbalances.

Electricity exports are only carried out when there is no disruption to the balance between domestic production and consumption, ensuring that internal needs are fully met.

In recent months, to address shortages during the hot season and periods of peak consumption, Iran’s electricity imports surged to more than five times the volume of its exports, with most of the imported power used to stabilize the national grid and meet internal demand.

Until recently, Iraq had been the main recipient of Iran’s electricity exports under international contracts, but these exports have been completely halted in recent months.

Exports to Afghanistan also continued under a separate international agreement but at volumes far lower than the amount of power imported into Iran.

Meanwhile the Managing Director of the Tehran Regional Electric Company announced that Qom Province will soon host its largest solar power plant, with a planned capacity of 2,000 megawatts, developed in cooperation with the private sector.

Speaking to IRNA, Farhad Shabihi said the national-scale project will be implemented with private investment to expand the country’s renewable energy infrastructure, eventually reaching a total capacity of 2,000 MW.

He added that in the first phase, a 350-MW solar plant will be built.

“Feasibility studies for connecting the plant to the national power grid are expected to be completed by late May 2026,” Shabihi noted.

The managing director highlighted that the Qom provincial government is preparing to allocate land for the first phase, with 600 hectares designated for the project under existing agreements.

According to Shabihi, the solar plant will not only supply part of Qom’s electricity demand and feed power into the national grid, but will also deliver significant environmental and economic benefits.

“By operating this solar facility, thousands of liters of fossil fuel will be saved annually, and greenhouse-gas emissions will be substantially reduced,” he said.

Shabihi emphasized that officials in the energy sector see such projects as key to achieving the country’s sustainable development goals:

“They help reduce reliance on fossil fuels, promote the use of clean energy, improve environmental indicators, and curb air pollution.”

From an economic perspective, the project is also highly significant, he added.

“Alongside large-scale private-sector investment, hundreds of direct and indirect jobs will be created during both the construction and operation phases, boosting the local economy in Qom Province.”

Shabihi further stated that the planned 2,000-MW capacity will pave the way for adopting advanced technologies and increasing the share of renewable energy in Iran’s energy mix.

According to IRNA, the project complements other national clean-energy initiatives and marks a major step toward implementing the country’s long-term policies for renewable energy development and energy security.

Recently, with the commissioning and construction of 280 MW of new solar power plants nationwide, Iran’s total installed solar capacity has surpassed 2,300 MW.

Each megawatt of solar power generation saves about 500,000 cubic meters of fuel and 400,000 liters of water annually, while preventing the release of roughly 1,000 tons of carbon monoxide into the atmosphere each year.

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Payam Baqeri said the electricity industry is a productive and strategic industry which is considered infrastructure for many other sectors and is a prerequisite for their development.

In this regard Iran is considered one of the most advance countries in the region in terms of electricity industry, he said.

According to Baqeri, the electricity industry also has great potentials for exports due to its good capacities and domestic production of almost all the equipment needed in this industry.

The official noted that the country’s elctricity industry has not been able to grow in proportion to its potentials and capacities over the past few years due to some problems and obstacles.

He further mentioned the current Iranian calendar year’s (started on March 21) motto which is “Production: Support and Elimination of Obstacles” and said: “this approach can create a great driving force for this industry and help it reach its development targets.”

The Islamic Republic’s total power generation capacity currently stands at about 85,500 gigawatts most of which is supplied by thermal power plants.

With a total generation capacity of 25,083 MW (nearly 31 percent) combined cycle power plants account for the biggest share in the country’s total power generation capacity followed by gas power plants generating about 30 percent.

The share of hydroelectric power plants is 19.87 percent while hydroelectric plants generate 14.8 percent of the country’s total electricity, the share of dispersed generation units is 1.5 percent and finally the renewable power plants account only for 0.79 percent of Iran’s total power generation capacity.

Iran’s electricity exports to its neighbors have also been witnessing an upward trend in the past two years as the country has been synchronizing its electricity network with that of neighboring countries.

Iran has had electricity exchanges with most of its neighbors namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Iraq, as well as the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic among which Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan have been solely importers of Iran’s electricity.

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“For the countries that we share a water border with, studies are underway that need to be completed so that the two countries can reach a conclusion on technical issues, and the plan for the export of electricity to Oman is also at this stage,” Rajabi Mashhadi said.

According to the official, the Energy Ministry’s priority plan is to have electricity exchange with all the neighboring countries that share land borders with Iran, and this plan is currently in place.

Regarding the southern Arab neighbors, Rajabi Mashhadi said: “Technical talks have been held between consultants and contractors and some solutions have been considered, but no energy exchange contract has been signed yet.”

Mentioning the electricity exports to Afghanistan and Iraq, the official noted that exports to Afghanistan and Iraq are carried out as before.

“There are good capacities in the country for increasing exports to Afghanistan, which has new demands to supply electricity to its industries and increasing exports to Iraq is also a matter of negotiation,” he added.

“Currently, we have energy exchanges with both countries within the contractual capacity, and we have not had any specific negotiations to increase exports. Requests have been made by both Iraq and Afghanistan to do so, but have not yet led to a new contract,” Rajabi-Mashhadi reminded.

Earlier this month, the head of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPO)’s Arab and African office announced that Iran is planning to commence exports of gas and electricity to Oman in near future.

Referring to the development of Iran’s trade program with neighboring Arab countries, Farzad Piltan said, “We are pursuing the exports of gas and electricity as two Iranian export projects to Oman.”

Iran has developed into an electricity hub in the region, having power exchanges with many of its neighbors.

“We are an energy hub in the region and seek to have electricity exchange with all the neighboring countries,” Iran’s Deputy Energy Minister Homayoun Haeri said back in June 2020.

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