Azerbaijan, Baku, Sep.30/ Trend R.Zamanov
By launching new combined cycle power plants, Iran can save over 10 billion dollars annually, the managing director of Iran Power Generation Transmission & Distribution Management Company (TAVANIR) said on Monday.
"Iran's thermal plant output capacity currently stands at 16,000 MW, but by turning them to combined cycle plants some 8000 MW would be added the country's total electricity output capacity," the Mehr News Agency quoted Homayoun Haeri as saying.
"Combined cycle power plants have a 15-16 per cent higher efficiency ratio compared to normal plants, so by using the same amount of fuel the country's production capacity would rise," he said.
Former Iranian Energy Minister Majid Namjou said in July that Iran plans to convert some thermal power plants with a capacity to produce 6000 megawatt hours of electricity to combined cycle plants by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2014),
"Once the projects come on stream, the country would be able to produce 6000 megawatt hours of electricity without using even one litre of fuel," the IRNA News Agency quoted Namjou as saying.
Namjou had previously said that 12 thermal power plants are supposed to be converted.
"Half of the aforementioned plants are owned by the private sector," he added.
The power generation capacity in Iran has grown seven per cent annually during the past 10 years. The figure has averaged 3.5 per cent in the world.
Iran currently trades power with Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq. In an effort to diversify its destination markets, Iran plans to export electricity to Europe and Africa.
Tehran seeks to become a major regional exporter of electricity and has attracted more than $1.1 billion in investments for the construction of three new power plants.
Based on the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan, Iran should annually add 5,000 MW to its power generation capacity.
Iran plans to boost its electricity generation capacity to reach 73GW by the end of the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (March 2016).