Iran's power capacity will increase by 44 percent after a 2,000-mw hydropower plant that is to be built beside Karoun 3 dam is completed in the near future, managing director
of Water and Power Resources Development Company said on Sunday.
The English-Language daily Tehran Times quoted Ali Akbar Zahmatkesh as saying the nation's biggest reservoir dam, Karoun 3, will start to be filled with water on Monday.
Mahab Co. undertook the construction project along with a Canadian contractor in 1995.
According to Zahmatkesh, the dam is expected to raise 4,000 million kilowatt hours of energy each year, adding "two phases of the project will be operational by January."
The Karoun 3 hydropower plant will be the third biggest in Iran after Masjed Soleyman and Shahin Abbaspour plants. The capacity of the reservoir dam is put at 1.25 billion
cubic meters.
Altogether, some 900 million dollars was spent to implement the Karoun 3 project. The dam, once operational, is estimated to bring 200 million dollars for the country each year, Zahmatkesh stated. (menareport.com)
