Iran and Azerbaijan stressed the need to speed up the completion of ongoing projects, particularly the construction of Khoda-Afarin and Qiz-Qalasi hydroelectric power plants and synchronization of their power grid.
Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian made the statement in a meeting with First Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Shahin Mustafayev in Tehran on Thursday, the Energy Ministry’s news service reported.
Mehrabian said Iran exports electricity to Azerbaijan in winter and imports in summer under a swap deal, and is currently synchronizing its power grid with Azerbaijan.
Although an electricity exchange scheme already exists between the two sides, “we are looking for bigger objectives by linking the two countries’ electricity networks”, he added.
Operations are underway to connect Iran’s power grid to Russia through the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The two sides also discussed further collaboration in the fields of energy and water resources with the help of their governments.
Iran and Azerbaijan finalized an agreement in January 2021 to build a 280-megawatt hydroelectric power plant at Khoda-Afarin Dam and accelerate the construction of the 40-MW hydropower station on Qiz-Qalasi Dam on the Aras River that straddles the joint border.
Tehran and Baku agreed to restore the ancient bridges downstream of the Khoda-Afarin Dam, which is a shared cultural heritage.
Khoda-Afarin is an earth-fill embankment dam, with a capacity of 1.6 billion cubic meters of water. It is located 8 km west of Khomarlou, (capital of Khoda-Afarin County) in Iran's East Azarbaijan Province and 14 km southwest of Soltanli in Jabrayil district of the neighboring republic.
One of the largest dams in northwest Iran, it supplies 1 billion cubic meters of water to Iran annually. Other functions of the dam are flood control and development of aquaculture and fisheries.
Mustafayev said cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan has improved in recent years, especially in the energy sector.
“In the past four years, presidents of the two countries held several meetings that produced important cooperation documents.”
The Azeri official said interaction between the two sides has been growing in all areas.
Mustafayev noted that bilateral trade has tripled since 2014 and the number of Iranian companies in the Azeri Republic had risen by 50% over the past year.
