Iran’s Power Grid Soon to Connect to Azerbaijani, Russian Grids

Iranian Minister of Energy (Water and Electricity) Reza Ardakanian  said the country’s electricity network will soon be linked to Russia and Azerbaijan in a couple of months once the synchronization studies are completed. Ardakanian said that the Iranian electricity grid could synchronize to other grids either through Azerbaijan or Armenia and Georgia, Fars News Agency reported on Friday.
“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 conduct the project in the Iran-Azerbaijan-Russia route. He went on to say that the company has already started work on the project. Ardakanian termed the project “a necessary one,” which is highly demanded by the three countries.

On Tuesday, Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali and Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Tikhonov underlined the necessity for strengthening cooperation between the two energy kingpins. Jalali and Tikhonov conferred on the trend of mutual energy cooperation with a focus on removing obstacles in the way of expansion of cooperation. The Iranian ambassador expressed hope that the measures taken would help the two nations boost trade between Tehran and Moscow. Tikhonov, for his part, underscored the need to implement joint projects in a bid to develop economic cooperation between the two countries.

Iran’s electricity exports to its neighbors have been witnessing an upward trend in recent years. The country has exchanged electricity with most of its neighbors, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Iraq, as well as the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, among which Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan have been solely importers of Iran’s electricity. - Iran Daily