TEHRAN (PIN) -- Iran pins hope on Bushehr nuclear power plant to meet the country’s growing electricity demand but it is considering other alternatives too.

“Iran expects to use various ways to generate power,” Iran’s Energy Minister Parviz Fattah told reporters in southern Iran. The alternative methods would include wind and thermal generators, said the official, who also emphasized the role of the private sector in development of energy industries. “The private sector has put 650 megawatts of electricity on the grid,” he said in a presstv.com report. He added a cyclone which stroke southern Iran last month caused partial damages to power installations in southern Iran, but efforts are underway to repair the affected systems