Close to 2.1 billion kilowatt hours of electricity have been generated from renewable sources since June 2009.
According to ILNA, the generated power has helped the country save 474 million liters of water in the last nine years, of which 13 million liters were saved between Nov. 22 and Dec. 21, 2017.
Iran's installed power capacity stands at around 77,000 megawatts, of which 581 MW come from renewable, including wind and solar.
ILNA added that during this period, renewables have helped the country reduce greenhouse emissions by as much as 1.48 million tons.
According to state-owned Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization, aka Satba, power production from sustainable sources between Dec. 22, 2017, and Jan. 20 amounted to 48 million kilowatt hours.
Satba noted that between Nov. 22 and Dec. 21, 2017, the country curbed its greenhouse emissions by 33,000 tons.
According to the report, the electricity generated since 2009 has helped the country save as much as 611 million cubic meters of fossil fuels, which are the root cause of air pollution.
Iran enjoys enormous potential for the production of different kinds of renewable energies, including geothermal, solar and wind power, according to environmentalists and experts.
Although the share of renewables stands at a meager 581 MW, measures are being taken to generate 7,500 MW from solar, wind, geothermal and biomass renewable power plants by 2030. Reportedly, 493 MW of new solar power capacity is under construction, which has created jobs for 44,600 people. According to Mohammad Sadeqzadeh, the head of Satba, over the next four years, renewable energies should make up 25% of new installed power capacity.
Sadeqzadeh believes the target is feasible, thanks to the launch of several solar plants in recent months as well as a slew of factories for manufacturing photovoltaic panels.
Small-scale solar plants with a capacity ranging from 7 megawatts to 30 MW are operational or in different stages of development. In July 2017, a 20-MW photovoltaic power complex, dubbed Mokran, was launched in Kerman Province. According to the Energy Ministry's data, wind and solar power plants account for 45% and 35% of the country's renewable production capacity respectively.
Small-scale hydroelectric plants, waste-to-energy complexes and biomass factories constitute 16%, 2% and 2% of the total renewable capacity respectively.
