Tehran, Baku Discuss Coop. in Water, Electricity Industries

Energy officials from Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation in the fields of water and electricity.

In a meeting in Tehran on Friday, Iranian Minister of Energy Ali Akbar Mehrabian and his Azeri counterpart Parviz Shahbazov weighed plans to enhance mutual cooperation, especially in the completion of two joint projects, namely Qiz-Qalasi and Khoda Afarin dams.

Mehrabian said that the Qiz-Qalasi dam will be inaugurated in the near future in a ceremony to be attended by the Iranian and Azeri presidents. The two energy ministers also held talks about connecting Iran’s electricity grid to that of Russia through the Republic of Azerbaijan.

With a capacity of 62 million cubic meters, the Qiz-Qalasi dam is expected to supply water to irrigation and drainage networks of Khoda Afarin county in Iran’s northwestern province of East Azarbaijan. The hydroelectric power station at the dam is designed to generate 270 MWh of electricity per annum. - Tasnim