Iran exports more electricity to neighbouring countries

According to the Iranian energy ministry, Iranchr("39")s power plants generated over 271.91 TWh (terawatt hours) of electricity since the beginning of the current Iranian fiscal year ‎‎(March 21, 2017) until Jan. 26.

The output was almost 7 percent more compared to the same period of the preceding year, according to the latest weekly data published by Iranchr("39")s Energy Ministry.

Iran's electricity export increased by 13 percent to ‎7.11 TWh‎ from the beginning of the current fiscal year to Jan. 26, according to the report.

Meanwhile, Iran imported 3.438 TWh of electricity during the period, registering a 9-percent fall compared to the same period of the preceding year.

Iran's thermal power plants produced 257.738 TWh of electricity in total during the reporting period, while 14.174 TWh ‎of the countrychr("39")s total electricity accounted for hydroelectric power plants.

The nominal electric generation capacity of the country has increased by 1,915 megawatts (MW) to 78,343 MW since the beginning of the current Iranian fiscal year.

Gas power plants (27,532 MW) share 35.14 percent of the generation capacity. Meanwhile the shares of combined-cycle (20,270 MW) and steam power plants (15,829 MW) account for 25.87 and 20.2 percent, respectively.

Nominal electric generation capacities of hydroelectric plants (11,811 MW) and Bushehr nuclear power plant (1020 MW) are equal to 15.1 and 1.3 percent of electric generation capacity, while the share of renewables stands at only 0.41 percent or 322 MW.

The country is expected to add 1,249 MW to its electric generation capacity by March 2018 - of that 632 MW will be renewables' share, according to the report.

Iran plans to increase its nominal electric generation capacity to 80,000 MW by summer 2018, and to 100,000 by 2025, 1,000 MW of which should be produced from solar energy.‎

Households consumed 34.9 percent of Iran's generated power during the first eight months of the current fiscal year (March 20 - Nov. 21, 2017), while the industry sector and agriculture sectors' consumption from the country's electricity generation stood at 30.4 and 16.1 percent, respectively.

Street lighting and commercial consumption accounted for 1.6 and 7.4 percent of the overall consumed electricity in the period.