TEHRAN – Iran Power and Water Equipment and Service Export Company (Sunir) and Armenia’s High Voltage Electricity Network Company (HVEN) signed a contract for the construction of the third power transmission line between the two countries.

The contract was signed by the manging director of Sunir, Bahman Salehi, and the managing director of HVEN, Aram Ananian, in Tehran on Wednesday.

According to the contract, the Export Development Bank of Iran will provide €83 million of the total €107.9 million needed to build the power line. The project will be ready over the course of 18 months.

The new transmission line will boost the electricity exchange capacity between Iran and Armenia to 1,000 megawatts from the currently 300 megawatts.

Moreover, the Iranian electricity grid will be connected to electricity grids in Armenia, Georgia, Russia, and Turkey.
Iran plans to triple its annual electricity exports from the currently 8 billion kilowatt hours (Bkwh) to 25 Bkwh by the next three years, according to Iranian Deputy Energy Minister Houshang Falahatian.   

Falahatian said the country puts priority on the neighboring and regional countries as the main destinations for electricity exports.   

Iran currently exports electricity to Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq, while imports electricity from Turkmenistan and Armenia.