IRNA � Iranian power plants' power generation capacity hit 80,000 megawatts in the Iranian calendar year of 1397 (started on March 21, 2018), showing 11-fold rise compared to the figure before triumph of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Minister of Energy Reza Ardakanian told the Islamic Republic of Iran's Broadcasting (IRIB) channel 1 Sunday night that in the Iranian calendar year 1357 (1978-79), the power plants generated about 7,000 megawatts of electricity.

Ardakanian said that now, 99.5 percent of Iranian population has access to power network.

By the Iranian calendar year of 1399 (2020-21), marking the final year of President Rouhani's government of Iran, about 4,000 megawatts of power will have been produced out of solar and wind energy and the figure will reach 5,000 megawatts by the end of the Sixth Five-Year Economic, Cultural, and Social Development Plan for 1396-1400 (2016 - 2021).