Tehran, Iran, June 12
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
3,000 megawatts of power plants in Iran are quite old and deficient and meet the conditions for being put aside, according to Abdolraul Pishahang, CEO for Strategic Affairs at Thermal Power Plants Holding.
However, he said these plants cannot be laid off because currently there is a shortage of supply vis-à-vis demand, ISNA news agency reported June 12.
The official further said that over the past year the equivalent of 90,000 megawatts power plant maintenance and repair has been conducted.
He added the maintenance projects took $820 million, 20 percent of which referred to wages and the rest to parts.
Hydroelectric, nuclear, and thermal power plants produce 51,000 megawatts of power in Iran, he said, adding that for the summer, supply is expected to come short by 2,000 megawatts.
Energy intensity is Iran is gradually turning into a major concerns. The country's energy intensity is about twice the global average.
Iran has signed an investment agreement with a group of foreign companies for developing its energy sector, an Iranian government official said.
Government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht said June 8 that Iran had signed a new contract with a group of foreign companies to attract $4.2 billion worth direct investments for building power plants in the country.
On June 5 Turkey's Unit International announced that it will construct seven gas power plants valued $4.2 billion.
Iran's power generation capacity currently stands at around 74,000 MW, of that some 12,000 MW account for hydroelectric power plants, 1,000 MW for a nuclear power plant and the remaining for thermal power plants.