Over Half of Iran’s Dams Filled to Capacity: Minister
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian said on Wednesday that half of the country’s dams in are full of water.
“At present, our reservoirs have a capacity of about 50 billion cubic meters, about 26 billion of which are filled (with water),” Ardakanian told reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet session in Tehran.
“We have also begun the (water) releases as planned and… we can generate electricity from the released waters,” he added.
The minister also expressed hope that the country would be able to use the precipitation as much as possible.
Speaking to Tasnim in May, Ardakanian said the number of the country’s dams has increased ninefold since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, rising from 19 to 172.
The minister said by the end of the 12th administration’s term in 2021, the capacity of border dams will increase by 1.5 billion cubic meters and other dams’ capacity will rise by 1.3 billion cubic meters.
Back in April, Ardakanian had said that the country is experiencing a year with the highest amount of annual precipitation over the past half a century.
Speaking at a televised program on April 13, Ardakanian said the average precipitation in the country during the first 15 days of the new Iranian year (started March 21) hit 57 millimeters, 19 times more than the corresponding period last year.
The minister went on to say that the rainfall has also enabled the hydroelectric power plants in the southwestern province of Khuzestan to generate electricity with maximum capacity.
