Iran and Russia broke the ground for two nuclear power plants in southern Bushehr Province in a ceremony on Saturday.
With a combined power production capacity of 1,057 megawatts, the new plants will boost Iran's total nuclear power output to 2,100 MW. The project is estimated to be completed in 10 years and cost $10 billion, IRNA reported.
First Vice-President Es'haq Jahangiri, Iran's nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi and Sergey Kiriyenko, the head of Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) attended the groundbreaking ceremony.
"Construction of the first reactor (in Bushehr) showed that Russia always fulfills its obligations to foreign partners, regardless of the changes in the political conditions," Sputnik quoted Kiriyenko as saying.
Russia's nuclear chief recalled the project as a practical contribution by Rosatom to the expansion of Russian-Iranian cooperation, stressing that Russia is strengthening its position in the global market of nuclear technology.
The second unit will become operational in October 2024 and the third by April 2026, according to a Rosatom statement.
According to official data, Iran's total installed power generation capacity is slightly above 75,000 megawatts.
More than 80% of the country's electric output, or nearly 61,000 MW, is supplied from thermal plants. It dwarfs the output from nuclear power which is hardly 1,000 MW after more than 20 years of operations and investment.
Once fully operational, Bushehr nuclear plant will reduce domestic oil consumption by 22 million barrels a year and also cap greenhouse gas emissions by 21 million tons per annum.
Jahangiri underscored the Bushehr nuclear project as an important step toward diversifying energy supplies.
As a clean and sustainable source of energy, "Nuclear power allows us to enhance the steady supply of electricity, cut fossil fuels consumption and protect the environment," he added.
------- Russian Footprint
Russia has been at the forefront of Iran's nuclear power industry in the past two decades. It took over the construction of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant from the Germans in 1995 and commissioned the plant in September 2011 on the back of technical hurdles as well as international restrictions.
The plant reportedly reached full production capacity in 2012. In April 2016, the unit was finally handed over to Iran, officially completing its construction stage.
Tehran and Moscow signed an agreement in 2014 to build two more units in Bushehr with an option to extend the total number of nuclear plants to eight.
Hassan Beheshtipour, an Iranian political analyst, says Russia can complete the construction of the new nuclear units in Bushehr much faster than expected.
"It can take just three years because the problems holding up construction of the second and the third nuclear reactors have been resolved," he told RT in an interview published on Friday.
"The project will be a turning point in the mutually-beneficial nuclear cooperation between our two countries, whose peaceful nature has been confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency."
The second and third Bushehr nuclear reactors will be upgraded versions of Generation III reactors, known as "III+". AP1000 nuclear plant in China, which is slated for launch next year, and the ATMEA1 reactor in France are among the nuclear plants with similar design.
