OSLO (Reuters) – Renewable energy is booming in Iran, where installed capacity is expected to grow at least sevenfold over the next five years, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s more confrontational attitude towards Tehran.
Iran’s latest deal was signed on Tuesday, when Norway’s Saga Energy concluded a $2.9 billion (£2.2 billion) deal to build solar power plants in the oil-producing country.
That gives Iran agreements with 124 companies, most of them European, to install 2,380 megawatts (MW) in renewable capacity, in addition to the 340 MW currently in place, according to data from Iran’s Energy Ministry.
They range from wind power to solar farms and hydropower dams to burning biomass and waste to heat homes. Iran is a signatory of the 2015 Paris climate agreement committing 195 nations to limit their carbon emissions.