Abadan Power Plant Launched

tehrantimes.com
May 25, 2004

TEHRAN (PIN) — President Mohammad Khatami on Monday inaugurated a
gas-operating power plant in the southern city of Abadan.

Khatami said the southern Khuzestan province accounts for 25 percent
of the national power generation.

Addressing the participants at the inaugural, the president said that
the project would play a key role in development of the province.

The power station whose construction was started three years ago is
now ready for operation. The project has cost more than 1,600 billion
rials to add 493 Megawatts of electricity to the national capacity.

Iranian power stations have to boost their capacities at a rate of
3,000 Megawatts per annum. The Third Five-Year National Economic
Development Plan calls for contribution of the private sector to
building power stations.

Power stations throughout the country generated more than 148 billion
kilowatts per hour of electricity in the last calendar year (ended
March 19).

Power output was higher than what predicted in the third five-year
national plan.

The generation was also higher than neighbors. Demand for electricity
exceeded 27,000 Megawatts last year. The figure grew more than 2,000
Megawatts.

The national demand for electricity will hit 44,000 Megawatts by the
end of the fourth five-year national plan (in March 2010) and the
country should boost its capacity to 56,000 Megawatts per hour.

Iran’s power network is connected to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan,
Pakistan and Afghanistan. He said that Iran would supply power to
Iraq in the near future.