Pakistan’s agreement with Iran under which it has been importing electricity will elapse in December 2014. Pakistan has been importing 74 megawatt (MW) of electricity from the Baluchistan area since 2002. If the agreement with Iran is not revised, Pakistan fears it may face electricity supply cut-offs, according to Pakistan Observer.
Pakistan’s debt to Iran for electricity has increased and reached $101 million. Pakistani authorities state that they have failed to pay the bill due to the economic sanctions imposed by the US and EU countries against Iran. A senior official at ministry of water and power has been quoted by Pakistan Observer as saying: “Iran is still very cooperative and is continuing to supply electricity to Pakistan.”
He said Pakistan is importing electricity from Iran at a rate of less than 10 cent per unit. Pakistani authorities plan to send a delegation of experts to Iran soon in order to negotiate the existing tariff agreement, with a view to extending the contact and ensuring that electricity imports from Iran do not cease.
The official disclosed that Pakistan recently inked an agreement with Iran seeking the import of 12 transformers, each 250 MW, for upgrading the existing electricity distribution and system. Out of 12 transformers, Pakistan has received 5 so far and the remaining 7 on the way.
Iran Electricity Exports
According to IRNA, Iran exported 5,566.9 gigawatt-hours of electricity to neighboring countries during March 21-September 22. The figure indicates a 2.6 percent growth compared with the corresponding period last year which was 5,422.9 gigawatt-hours.
Iran exchanges electricity with Armenia, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Nakhchivan, Iraq and Afghanistan. Earlier, Zaman Hosseini, managing director of Tehran Regional Electric Company, said Iran ranks 1st in the world and 14th in the Middle East in terms of electricity production. He also noted that Iran provides electricity services to 21 countries.
