Renewable energy has been one of the brightest sectors in the Iranian economy, achieving 70 percent growth in the last Iranian year according to official data. There are currently 85 large-scale and more than 1,850 small-scale renewable power plants feeding electricity into the national grid. The overall capacity of renewable power plants in Iran reached 637 MW this month. A further 41 large-scale power plants with a total output capacity of 431 MW are currently under construction across the country.
Overall, the sector is projected to generate 1,000 MW of clean electricity annually by 2022. This additional capacity is especially important as policymakers seek to meet rising electricity demand and prevent summer blackouts in coming years. It is also a source of export revenue. Iran has exported USD 4.1 billion worth of electricity to its neighbors over the last five years, with renewable energy a growing contributor.
The environmental benefits are also significant. Growing use of renewable energy has saved541 million liters of increasingly precious water and replaced the consumption of 600 million liters of fossil fuels in the past ten years.
At a smaller scale, an increasing number of farmers, struggling with a chronic shortage of water supplies, are turning to solar power generation on their farms. Farmers in Esfahan who are no longer permitted to cultivate rice are taking advantage of a 20-year government guarantee for the supply of electricity. It is estimated that over 1,000 small-scale solar power plants are now installed in farms across rural Iran.