Financial Tribune- Phelan Energy Group, a South African solar power developer, has built a 10-megawatt solar plant in the city of Khusf, South Khorasan Province.

The photovoltaic plant was built in cooperation with a local contractor in 67 days. The project was conducted with an investment of �14 million ($17.2 million) by the African company, the portal of Iran's Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization (Satba) reported.

According to Mohammad Shafiei, the governor of Khusf, the government has drawn a 13-year tax exemption plan for renewable ventures as well as incentives worth around $1.5 billion to expand renewable energy production capacity, especially in the drought-stricken provinces.

Located in eastern Iran in a dry climate and deserted terrain, South Khorasan has been dealing with water scarcity for almost 20 years.

In October 2017, in the contract signing ceremony, Paschal Phelan, the managing director of Phelan Energy Group, said that following the project's completion, the company would implement a similar project in the city of Sarbisheh in South Khorasan.

�Phelan Energy Group aims to install solar power plants generating 200 MW per annum in Iran,� Phelan said, adding that Iran has the potential to meet 25% of its power needs from solar energy by 2022. Close to 1.8 billion kilowatt hours of electricity have been generated from renewable sources since June 2009.

According Satba, this electricity has helped the country reduce greenhouse emissions by as much as 1.25 million tons in this period. Renewables have helped save 398 million liters of water in the last nine years, of which 11 million liters were saved between Nov. 22 and Dec. 21, 2017.