Iran and Turkmenistan extended an electricity trade deal until 2020.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow signed a decree on Saturday, allowing the country's state-owned national energy company Turkmenenergo to sign a new trade agreement with Iran Power Generation and Transmission Company (TAVANIR), Fars news agency said, according to a report by the Russian-language daily Neytralny Turkmenistan.
Based on the agreement, the two countries will continue to trade electricity until January 1, 2020 and Iran will increase electricity imports from Turkmenistan.
The two sides have also reached agreement on new prices to trade electricity, the report said.
Last month, Iran's deputy energy minister Houshang Falahatian visited Ashgabat and discussed ways to boost bilateral energy ties.
According to the National Socio-Economic Development Program of Turkmenistan for 2011–2030, the country plans to increase production of electricity to 27.4 billion kilowatts until 2020 and to 35.5 billion until 2030.
It has also plans to build 14 gas turbine thermal power plants across the central Asian state.
In February, Turkmen foreign minister Reshid Meredov said Turkmenistan exported over 1.5 billion kilowatts of electricity to Iran in 2013. Turkmenistan exports electricity to Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
By investing $5 billion, Turkmenistan is vying to become an electricity exporting hub in the region by 2020.
Iran's electricity exports to neighboring countries also increased by 4 percent in the March-September period compared to the same period last year, reaching 5164 gigawatts from 4995 gigawatts.
The country's total electricity production also reached 142,323 gigawatts in the said period compared to that of a year ago; a figure that shows a 7.19 percent increase.
