Iran's Nuclear Program, Meet Iran's Renewable Energy Program: How Iran Is Becoming Fond Of Renewables

Iran plans to set up three new wind farms to boost its renewable energy output, the Tehran Times reported Wednesday.

It may surprise some, but Iran is launching something other than missile tests in initiating new programs in renewable energy, to help diversify its energy mix amidst sanctions that are stunting its oil sector and whole economy.

The project would add another 350 megawatts of power to its current capacity of 120 megawatts already in place from wind farms. One MW of energy can sustain about 1,000 homes for one hour.

According to Iran’s five-year plan, the use of renewable energy should increase to 1.5 percent of the country’s energy mix by 2016. Iran’s renewable energy program is one of the largest in the Middle East, having already installed 9,385 megawatts, according to a Wall Street Journal report in 2012 that sited a green-energy information database.

In 2012 the government announced that it would designate $620 million for renewable energy projects and technologies.