Iran commits to buying 1.5 GW of solar power from domestic suppliers

Iran has committed as part of a new contract to buy 1.5 gigawatts (GW) of solar power from several domestic suppliers.

The Iranian Energy Ministry's renewables department, known as SATBA, said on Tuesday that the contract with 10 domestic suppliers of solar electricity is the largest of its kind ever signed in the country.

SATBA’s chief Mahmoud Kamani said the contract is a milestone in Iran’s efforts to rely more on renewables to make its power grid more resilient during peak demand days.

Kamani named an oil refinery in the central city of Isfahan as the largest supplier of solar power under the contract, saying the refinery will build three photovoltaic power stations with a total capacity of 1 GW.

The official said nine other companies will supply the remaining 0.5 GW to the national power grid.

Iran has an ambitious plan to expand its renewables sector by 10 GW until 2025. That comes as the current renewables capacity in Iran is more than 1 GW which accounts for just over 1.1% of the country’s total electricity generation capacity.

Iran’s peak demand for electricity reached an all-time record of more than 73 GW in mid-August when demand for cooling increased across the country.

Kamani said SATBA has managed to award contracts for 3.057 GW of renewables over the past two years.

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