Wealth fund to invest $2.3b in solar energy push
Iran’s Economic Council has approved a plan for the country’s sovereign wealth fund to invest $2.3 billion in solar energy, as the government seeks to diversify its power mix and ease growing strain on the electricity grid.
The funding—greenlit following approval from Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei—will be channeled through the National Development Fund (NDF) and focused largely on the construction of rooftop solar farms, with a combined capacity target of 7,000 megawatts (MW).
Hamid Pourmohammadi, the head of Iran’s Plan and Budget Organization, signed off on the measure and forwarded it to the Energy Ministry and the NDF for implementation.
Under the plan, the NDF will cover 80% of the financing for approved projects, with private partners required to shoulder the remaining 20%.
Applicants may seek funding for projects of up to 1,000 MW each, with intermediaries managing the financial and technical aspects on behalf of the fund.
Iran, which receives over 300 sunny days a year, has launched a nationwide drive to ratchet up its use of renewables, especially solar power, amid soaring demand and ageing thermal infrastructure.
The country aims to add 30,000 MW of renewable capacity—mainly solar—in the next three years.
Iran’s total electricity generation capacity hovers around 95,000 MW, over 90% of which comes from thermal and gas-fired power stations, government figures show. Renewables account for a mere 2.1%, or around 2,000 MW, of the national energy mix.
Officials had warned earlier this year that power shortages during the peak summer months could reach 25,000 MW, but recent estimates suggest that energy-saving measures have helped trim the shortfall to 14,000 MW, according to state electric utility Tavanir.
The government hopes the new solar initiative will help plug that gap while reducing reliance on fossil fuels and cutting emissions.