TEHRAN - The optimization projects manager of Iran's Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company (known as Tavanir) has said the country needs a policy package in which all issues such as currency supply, imports, licenses, measures to support investors, etc. have been seen in order to develop renewables.

“If the government has come to the conclusion that renewables should have a proper share in the country’s energy portfolio as one of the most important solutions to resolve the energy imbalance, then a specific policy package should be developed not only in the Ministry of Energy but also in a general and supra-institutional way,” Mehr News Agency quoted Masoud Khani as saying.

Currently, the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization (SATBA) has solved many problems through inking memorandums of understanding with various institutions, but the most important problem in this industry is financing, which must be seriously resolved, Khani said.

Underlining the need for the allocation of subsidized foreign currency for the import of parts needed for the development of renewable projects, he said: “In solar power plants, the production of the panels is currently done in the country, but inverters must be provided through imports, which requires the allocation of foreign currency and facilitating the order registration by the Industry Ministry.”

Based on the Energy Ministry data, renewables, currently, account for nearly seven percent of the country’s total electricity generation capacity.

Of the country’s total renewable capacity, 44 percent is the share of solar power plants while the share of wind farms stands at 40 percent and small-scalded hydropower plants generate 13 percent of the total renewable capacity.

Over the past few years, the Iranian government has taken serious measures to accelerate the growth and development of renewable energies in the country.

Diversification of financing models for renewable projects, increasing the ceiling of guaranteed electricity purchase, providing the possibility of buying and selling renewable electricity in the green board of the Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX) and providing the possibility of exporting renewable electricity have been the most important measures taken for this purpose.

EF/MA