TEHRAN – Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian said on Wednesday that the country’s renewable power plants have so far produced over 3.5 billion kilowatt hours (Kwh) of electricity, preventing the production of over 2.461 million tons of greenhouse gases.

As reported by IRNA, the official put the country’s current capacity of renewable power generation at 761 megawatts (MW), saying that currently another 380 MW of new power plants are under construction across the country.

According to the Energy Ministry’s news portal (known as PAVEN), the country’s renewable power plants have also prevented the use of more than 1 billion cubic meters of fossil fuels and saved 785 million liters of water.

Currently 115 renewable power plants are operating across the country and 32 are also under construction, according to Ardakanian.

The county’s renewable sector has created 42,300 job opportunities and the private sector’s investment in this area has exceeded 124 trillion (about $2.95 billion).

Based on the latest data released by the energy ministry, 45 percent of the country's renewable power plants are solar, 40 percent are wind farm, 12 percent small hydroelectric power plants, and finally 3 percent are thermal recycling and biomass power plants.

Last week, Head of Iran’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization (known as SATBA) said 14 new renewable power plants started operation in nine different provinces during the Government Week.

According to Seyed Mohammad Sadeqzadeh, with a total capacity of 160 megawatts, the mentioned projects include a wind farm and 13 solar farms.

The official noted that over 4.45 trillion rials (nearly $106 million) plus €107 million has been funded for completing the mentioned projects.

“These 14 power plants went operational in East Azarbaijan, Tehran, Hamedan, Zanjan, Yazd, Kerman and Fars provinces,” Paven quoted Sadeqzadeh as saying.

Renewables, including hydropower, account for just six percent of the country’s total energy generation, versus natural gas’ 90 percent share.

Overall, in the next five years, Iran is aiming for a 5,000 MW increase in renewable capacity to meet growing domestic demand and expand its presence in the regional electricity market.

EF/MA