Heightened concerns over the shortage of natural resources and the importance of finding proper substitutes necessitate greater attention to renewable energies, a senior energy official said.
"There is an enormous potential for generating energy via clean resources, including wind and solar powers. However, we are lagging far behind in this regard," Hashem Oraei, the head of Iranian Wind Energy Association, was also quoted as saying by ISNA on Friday.
According to Oraei, the government had planned a 5% growth in renewables during the Fifth Five-Year Development Plan, but it was not materialized by the end of the plan in 2016.
The Energy Ministry also planned to add at least 1,000 megawatts, or 1 GW, to total power generating capacity each year through 2022 with the help of the private sector last year.
"Almost a year has passed since then, but nothing even close to 1,000 megawatts has been generated," he said.
The official noted that major hurdles in the way of fulfilling the goal are financial deficiencies and lack of investments.
Ruling out the possibility of financing via domestic sources, Oraei said the key to solving the problem is to "attract foreign financial resources".
The country's installed electricity capacity amounts to 75 GW. The lion's share of power is produced with the help of fossil fuel-based power plants, yet the share of renewables in Iran’s energy mix is as low as 450 MW.
"Only 200 MW constitute wind power. This is while permits to build wind power plants amounting to 9,000 MW have been granted to the private sector," he said.
According to Mohammad Sadeqzadeh, the head of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization—a state-owned entity also known as Satba—foreign investors have submitted investment proposals worth $3.6 billion to develop renewable projects.
Oraei called on the government to resolve the contradictory regulations that have hampered such collaborations.
"Unless we pave the way, hoping to achieve the 5 GW will be in vain," he said.
The official believes that environmental and futuristic advantages of renewables are other factors making the topic a high priority.
Iran has pledged to slow climate change by promoting cleaner energies. In December 2015, 195 nations, including Iran, signed an agreement at the Paris Climate Conference to move away from fossil fuels with the goal of limiting a rise in average global temperatures to well below 2 degrees Celsius.
Iran promised at the Paris Climate Conference to curtail greenhouse gas emissions by increasing power production from renewable sources to 7,500 MW by the end of the next decade.
