Iran, Turkey Power Grids Connected, Talks with Russia Underway

The spokesman for Iran’s Electricity Industry said that the power grids of Iran and Turkey have been connected and the two countries can exchange up to 400 megawatts of electricity.

Speaking on the sidelines of the 23rd Iran International Electricity Exhibition on Tuesday, Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi said that the construction operation of power plants with a capacity to generate 5,500 megawatts of electricity has started in the country.

Turning to the situation of the export of electricity, Rajabi Mashhadi said Iran has electricity exchange (import and export) with all neighboring countries. Iran presently imports electricity from Turkmenistan and Armenia and exports it to neighboring Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the spokesman added.

He added that the power grids of Iran and Turkey have also been connected. Talks are underway with Afghanistan regarding the development of cooperation in the electricity sector, he further emphasized.

In related news, Iran’s minister of energy said the electricity grids of Iran and Russia would be connected, adding that feasibility studies for the connection via the Republic of Azerbaijan’s territory have been conducted.

Speaking during a visit to the 23rd edition of the Iran Int’l Electricity Exhibition (IEE) and the first edition of the Iran Electricity Industry Tech Market Festival at the Tehran Permanent International Fairgrounds on Tuesday, Ali Akbar Mehrabian said feasibility studies for connecting power grids have been conducted through three routes including Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.

The Republic of Azerbaijan has been chosen as the best route for this aim, Mehrabian added. It is hoped that electricity exchange between Iran, Russia and Azerbaijan will start in six months, he said, adding that this project is very economical because the peak of consumption of power is completely different in Iran and Russia.

In other words, when the use of electricity is high in Russia, Iran has the lowest consumption rate, the energy minister added. Elsewhere in his remarks, the energy minister said the use of electricity in Iran’s industrial sector has exceeded that of the household sector for the first time in the history of the country’s power industry. Holding the exhibition with the participation of foreign companies indicates the privileged status of Iran’s power industry both in the regional and international arenas, he emphasized.

The exhibition kicked off at the Tehran Permanent International Fairgrounds on November 14 and will run through November 17. - Tasnim