Iran has called on Russia to cooperate in the construction of power plants with a $7 billion investment, said deputy energy minister Houshang Falahatian, Mehr news agency reported.
According to the deal, Russia would carry out construction of new power plants in Iran with a total capacity of 3500 megawatts.
The scope and value of the deal will be announced once Russia comes up with a final offer within a month, but its cost "will likely surpass $7 billion," according to Falahatian.
He stressed that meetings are to be held in Tehran and Moscow when the two sides come to terms about the feasibility of the deal.
Last September, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak signed four economic and commercial agreements worth $10 billion in a meeting in Tehran.
Based on the agreement, the Russians will, among other things, help build eight new power plants, including four in the coastal city of Bandar Abbas, two in the new Sahand City in East Azerbaijan Province and two in Tabas city.
Besides the construction of the new power plants, Russia has expressed willingness to restore dilapidated plants in Iran, including Ramin plant in the city of Ahvaz in Khuzestan and Shahid Montazeri plant in Isfahan Province.
Electricity to Europe
Iran is also exploring the possibility of exporting electricity to Europe through Azerbaijan or Georgia, according to Falahatian.
Studies have been conducted and negotiations with officials of the two countries will commence in the near future.
Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian earlier announced that Iran has the technical capacity to export electricity to the members of the European Union (EU), but negotiations have to be made with the neighboring countries such as Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia in order to synchronize Iran and Europe's electricity grids.
Electricity exports to the neighboring countries increased more than 4 percent in the March-September period and production increased by 7 percent compared to the same period last year.
There are plans to trade electricity with Russia and Azerbaijan. Iran aims to import 500 megawatts of electricity from Russia in summer and export the same amount in the winter. Iran will also increase electricity exports to Russia by 200 megawatts per year, provided that Azerbaijan reinforces its electricity network.
Iran exported more than 5164 gigawatts of electricity to bordering countries, a 3.37 percent increase from 4995.5 gigawatts in the said period.
Its electricity industry ranks 14th in the world and first in the Middle East in terms of electricity generation with an installed power generation capacity of 67,806 megawatts.
The country is the largest exporter and importer of electricity in the Middle East and exports electric power to Armenia, Pakistan, Turkey, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Azerbaijan and Armenia supply electricity to Iran under a swap agreement.
