The economic council of the Iranian government approved the construction of 3,000 megawatts of wind power, announced head of Iran’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization (SATBA) Mahmoud Kamani.
For the past year and a half, models for the construction of wind power plants along with solar power plants have been presented and discussed by the council, Press TV reported.
The electricity generated by the wind parks will be purchased by the Ministry of Energy at a rate of 9.5 cents for each kilowatt of electricity, for a period of four and a half years, after which the owners of the power plants can trade it on the Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX).
The statute of the self-regulatory commodity exchange stipulates that all energy carriers and energy-based derivatives including oil, gas and electricity shall be listed and traded on one of the IRENEX markets.
The company says its mission is to develop a market in which trade is done under transparency, efficiency and liquidity.
According to Kamani, sites for constructing 40,000 MW of renewable capacity have been identified. In the first phase, tenders will be held for four sites in Khorasan Razavi, South Khorasan, Sistan and Baluchestan, and Zanjan provinces to build wind farms.
In the next phase, tenders will be held in ten other provinces, including Kerman and Semnan, where the necessary appraisals have been completed.
The initial 3,000 MW capacity is estimated to join the national grid in five years since wind power usually takes more time to build than solar power, Kamani said.
In the past, Iranian officials have said there is a potential to install 30,000 MW of wind power and 10,000 MW of solar power capacity across the country.
Currently, Iran has about 450 MW of wind power installed. It has also a capacity of about 440 MW, represented by solar installations.
Iran is a signatory of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, committing 195 nations to limit their carbon emissions. In its intended nationally determined contribution (INDC) in 2015, Iran committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 4% (unconditional pledge), and up to 12% (conditional on international financial and technical assistance) by 2030, compared to a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario.