TEHRAN – Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation has founded the construction of 700 rooftop photovoltaic power stations (known as PV systems) in Kerman Province (southeast Iran) of which 520 are ready for use, Mehr news agency reported on Wednesday quoting an official.

According to Mohammadreza Pur-Ebrahimi, the chairman of the Parliament's Economic Commission, the five-kilowatt PV systems are aimed at boosting the power capacity in the region and also helping the families under the patronage of Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation.

According to the deputy manager of the Kerman Electric Power Distribution Company, an estimated 1,690 small-scale power stations will become operational next month in the province.

"The small-scale solar systems will add 8,455 megawatts of electricity to the national grid by the end of May," Abdolhamid Shirnejad added.

In September 2018, Mohammad Sadeqzadeh, head of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization (known as SATBA), said Iranian households are going to install 2000 new rooftop solar power stations across the country by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 2020), pushing the number of such small-scale power plants to reach 4000.

The country’s current capacity of generating electricity from renewable resources stands at 700 MW and near 500 MW of new power plants are under construction.

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