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© ICIS HEREN - Turkey to expand Iranian electricity interconnection

2012-04-05

Turkey is expecting to increase its electricity imports from Iran as early as May as existing transmission lines are being upgraded, a source at Turkish grid operator TEIAŞ told ICIS.
Turkey already imports 150MW to Başkale from Khoy in Iran and another 40MW through the DoğuBeyazit-Bazargan line. However, the Başkale-Khoy line is now being upgraded from 230kV to 400kV and will allow Turkey to import a total 300MW.
The TEIAŞ source said the lines, which currently facilitate isolated flows, may be further upgraded for non-synchronous back-to-back exchanges.
This, in turn, means that Turkey may be not only importing, but also exporting electricity to Iran.
One-year contracts will cover imports from Iran, and a tender for the increased capacity will be announced as soon as the Turkish and Iranian sides agree on specific contractual terms.
"At the moment there is only one company importing from Iran," the TEIAŞ source said. "However, with the new tender there will be an opportunity for new companies to bid."
A source active in cross-border trading said the companies wanting to bid in the tender would need firm supply agreements with Iranian counterparts.
Turkey is also in the process of expanding its cross-border exchanges with Georgia to 350MW this year and up to 1GW by 2014. (see EDEM 9 February 2012)
The country started limited commercial exchanges with Greece and Bulgaria in June 2011 as part of its connection with the EU grid and is likely to expand the flows later this yearn (see EDEM 20 September 2011).
(THE ICIS HEREN REPORTS - EDEM 16068 / 5 April 2012)

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