Iran and Italy signed a memorandum of understanding to build a number of renewable power plants in Iran with a total power generation capacity of 500 megawatts, a deputy energy minister said on Tuesday.
"The new projects will be built under a five-year timeframe … No limit has been set for Italians in carrying out the projects," Alireza Daemi told IRNA on Tuesday.
He added that the deal can be extended to new five-year periods as Iran is planning to reach its target of producing 5,000 MW from renewable resources assigned in the sixth five-year development plan (2016-21).
According to the official, Iran's Energy Ministry is doubling down on power production from thermal, geothermal and biomass as sustainable sources of energy.
Geothermal is the heat that comes from the Earth, and biomass refers to living, or recently living organisms such as plants or plant-based materials used as a source of energy.
The MoU is part of far-reaching agreements signed with Italy on Tuesday during the first-ever visit of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to Tehran.
Italy, Europe's fourth-largest economy, is also poised to import crude oil from Iran. Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh on Tuesday discussed selling oil to major Italian refiners Eni and Saras Group in separate meetings with chief executive officers of the two companies, Claudio Descalzi and Massimo Moratti.
Eni is interested in taking in 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Iran and Saras is in talks for a 60,000-70,000-barrel deal.
Iran and Italy opened a new chapter in relations after President Hassan Rouhani signed deals worth around $18 billion in January during his first visit to Italy since taking office in mid-2013.
Among the deals struck in Rome with oil-rich Iran were agreements for oil exploration, infrastructure development, energy and automobiles.
