BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 22
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
Iran plans to increase the share of nuclear energy in electricity generation to 8,400 megawatt-hours by 2041, Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian said in his speech to the Iranian parliament today on June 22, Trend reports citing the parliament’s website.
The minister noted that at present, Iran's nuclear power generation is 1.050 megawatt-hours at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant. The 2nd and 3rd units of the Bushehr NPP will be launched by 2028, and thus, 2,100 megawatt-hours will be added to the electricity generation capacity.
Ardakanian added that by 2036, two nuclear power units will be built in the Makran settlement district in southeastern Iran, and their electricity generation capacity will be 2,100 megawatt-hours.
According to him, moreover, one more nuclear power plant with a generation capacity of 3,000 megawatt-hours will be built by 2041.
“Iranian Energy Ministry is closely monitoring the construction of nuclear power plants on the shores of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. These areas are the most optimal for NPPs. This is because the temperature of the steam entering the turbines is many times lower than the temperature of normal steam turbines. These turbines can be used for up to 60 years and do not pollute the environment,” he said.
As reported, the Nuclear Power Production and Development Company of Iran and Russia's Atomstroyexport JSC signed a contract in 2014 on the construction of the 2nd and 3rd units of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Iran. The construction of two units of this power plant began in 2016. If the 2nd and 3rd units of Bushehr NPP are launched, 1,050 megawatts of electricity can be generated.
As reported, the 1st unit of the Bushehr NPP was launched in 2011 by Russian Atomic Company (ROSATOM). In 2013, the development of the unit was handed over by the ROSATOM to an Iranian company. The unit has been generating 1,000 megawatt-hours of electricity per year since 2013.
Moreover, the nuclear power plant generated 5.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in the last Iranian year (from March 20, 2020 through March 20, 2021). A total of 43.4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity generated by 1st unit has been supplied to Iran's electricity network.
According to international standard prices, the minimum worth of generated electricity is about $4 billion.