MNA � A 10-megawatt solar power plant in Baft County, central Kerman province, was connected to the national power grid at the weekend.

The plant, established on a 20-hectares area at a total cost of $4.6 million by the private sector, has been designed and built by Iranian experts.

According to Energy Ministry, the new solar farm will help reduce greenhouse gases by up to 10,000 tons annually and save the consumption of 4 million cubic meters of natural gas and over 3,000 cubic meters of water.

Currently, nine solar plants with a total capacity of 59 MW are operational in the central Iranian province, which has a dry climate and has sufficient solar radiation.

Besides, 926 rooftop-mounted systems are already functioning in the province, with a total capacity of 8,228 kilowatts.

With more than 300 sunny days in a year, Iran has huge potentials to harness renewable energies, including geothermal, solar and wind power.

Currently, renewables account for only 6% of the total nominal power capacity (82,000 MW) in the country. So far, 43,450 people are involved in the construction, development and maintenance of solar, wind, hydroelectric, waste-to-energy and biomass power plants.

Over to 3 billion kilowatt hours of electricity has so far been generated from alternative energy sources over the past ten years reducing water and fossil fuel consumption.

Officials say Iran needs to expand power generating capacity by 5,000 MW annually, or 20,000 MW till 2022 to meet rising demand at home and expand its footprint in the regional energy market.

The Energy Ministry has devised plans to increase the generating capacity of renewables, by 5,000 MW in the same period.