BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 9
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
A total of 15.6 billion cubic meters of gas are saved annually in Iran through combined cycle power plants, Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian said, Trend reports citing the ministry.
He made the remark in an event dedicated to the launch of certain electricity and water facilities in Iran today on Feb. 9.
The minister noted that each unit of the combined cycle power plant saves 250 million cubic meters of gas per year. At present, these units can produce about 30,000 megawatt-hours of electricity.
Ardakanian added that Iran is the fourth country, after the US, Russia and Japan, which supplies about 80 percent of the fuel for power plants with gas.
“The generation capacity of Iran's thermal power plants exceeded 17,400 megawatt-hours of electricity during the current government (since August 2013). Work is underway to increase this to 20,000 megawatt-hours,” he said.
As reported, 8 water and electricity facilities at a cost of 39.7 trillion rials (about $946 million) were put into operation in Iran on Feb. 9. The steam unit of the Sabalan combined cycle power plant has been put into operation in the Ardabil Province (northwestern Iran). A total of 35 trillion rials (about $833 million) has been spent on this unit.
This power plant has 6 gas and 3 steam units. Under standard conditions, each unit has the potential to generate 160 megawatt-hours of electricity. It is projected that the second steam unit of the power plant will be launched in the summer and the third unit in the autumn. Each steam unit will consume about 250 million cubic meters of gas.