TEHRAN – Nation’s private sector has planned to construct two new power plants in Khorramshahr and Omidieh, Khuzestan Province, said Mohammad-Ali Vahdati on Saturday.

The plans are in line with the Energy Ministry’s policies to have the private sector involved in the construction of power plants, he added.

“Considering the increasing electricity consumption at the rate of 10% plus per annum, some 4,000 megawatts should be added to the capacity of the state-owned electricity power plants,” the managing director of Iran Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution Management Company (TAVANIR) made the remarks in an interview with MNA in Ahvaz.

He went on to say that some 2,900 megawatts will be added to the power plant capacity by the end of the current Iranian year (started March 21, 2006), noting that the state-owned capacity will reach 45,000 megawatts thereafter.

Referring to the fact that Iran faces no problem in providing the necessary fuel for the power plants, Vahdati stipulated that proper coordination has been made with the Oil Ministry, and the power plants are supposed to be filled with liquid fuel within 17 days.

He also stated that in nine months of the year, some 90% of the required fuel for the power plants is provided from natural gas; however, during the winter the power plants work near the margin due to the increase in gas consumption.

Wind power plants are being constructed in Gilan and Khorasan provinces, and in addition to several small solar plants, a 17-MW one is part of TAVANIR projects in Yazd, central Iran.