Page 53 - IRANRptFeb21

Tehran to decommission three high pollution oil-fired power plants
Start-up for Iran’s first geothermal power plant approaching says official
He added that some $3.2bn (at the official Iranian rial exchange rate) has been invested by local and foreign private sector firms in the development of power plants in the country, leading to the production of more than 5.470bn kilowatt-hours of electricity.
The current share of solar and wind power plants has been 48% and 36% , respectively, other types of renewable power plants include biomass and small hydropower plants.
“Currently 54 companies are building renewable power plants with a total capacity of about 230 MW, including solar, wind and hydro, across the country,” Satakin said.
He noted that companies were set to construct 28 renewable power plants by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2021).
Iran is aiming for a 5,000 MW increase in renewable capacity to meet growing domestic power demand and expand its presence in the regional electricity market.
Tehran has plans to decommission three high pollution oil-fired old power plants within the next three years as part of an energy efficiency drive, ILNA has reported.
Much of the electricity and power infrastructure in Iran dates back to before the 1979 revolution. Big American companies like General Electric that were ejected from the country after the coup had helped create the infrastructure in conjunction with the former Pahlavi monarchy. Since then the Islamic Republic has continued to operate much of that infrastructure but has had to fabricate parts locally as US sanctions have made it impossible to continue importing replacement parts.
According to the Thermal Power Plants Holding Company (TPPH), there is now a programme to decommission the old power stations of Arasht, Rey, and Be’sat in Tehran over the next few years. They contribute 60 megawatts (Mw) of power to the grid.
TPPH managing director Mohsen Tarztalab said: “Despite the low efficiency of these three old power plants of Tehran, they should operate in the summer due to the high electricity consumption, and to prevent possible blackouts during the peak period, but now we also have plans to replace these power plants.”
The first power station in the capital earmarked for closure is Rey. The authorities say it needs to be shut down by December this year, as the city continues to suffer from temperature-induced heavy pollution or the "inversion effect", to which Rey power plant contributes a significant portion as it sits within the boundaries of the capital.
Iran's first geothermal power plant will go into operation before the end of the present 2020/2021 Persian calendar year (March 20), according to Deputy Energy Minister Homayoun Haeri.
First-phase primary electricity generation capacity of the $40.4mn plant would be five megawatts (MW), he said, adding that there were plans for further phases to gradually take that up to 50 MW.
Thermal Power Plants Holding (TPPH) is working on the plant in Meshkin Shahr county in the northwestern Ardebil province. The power plant will be located at the foot of Mount Sabalan, almost 85 kilometres northwest of Ardebil, and will feed electricity into the local grid.
ILNA reported Haeri as saying the project was 71% complete and that “technical knowledge in the design, construction and commissioning of geothermal power plants... has become indigenous”.
The first phase of the plant development will attribute a 5 MW turbine, while a
53​ IRAN Country Report February 2021 www.intellinews.com