Shahid Salimi Power Plant (Neka) in Mazandaran Province, which had been banned by judicial authority of Neka County from burning mazut is still using the highly-polluting fuel, head of the provincial gas company said Wednesday.
"Despite the fact that the plant has the necessary infrastructure to use natural gas as feedstock, using eco-unfriendly mazut has not stopped," Jafar Ahmadpour was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Referring to the completion of Damghan, Kiasar, Sari and Neka gas pipeline project in 2017, the official said the venture put an end to gas shortages in the northern region and use of the low quality fuel oil (mazut) at the plant was supposed to reach zero 18 months ago. “But it is still being used.”
Mazut is a heavy, low quality fuel oil used as alternative fuels to run thermal power plants and factories.
"There seems to be surplus mazut (cannot be sold due to the US sanctions) and should used domestically," Ahmadpour said when asked why the Neka facility is still using the fuel.
Burning natural gas produces pale white smoke, whereas using mazut for energy production leads to the emission of brown smoke that can travel for kilometers by wind and remain in the air for hours.
A video footage shot by eyewitnesses in the small county in Mazandaran has been made available to the local media. It shows brownish smoke associated with burning mazut rising from the power plant’s flue-gas stack.
Following leakage of mazut from supply pipelines, which had caused massive soil pollution, a complaint was filed by the provincial office of the Department of Environment and the pipeline was shut by the order of Ali Akbar Zolfaqari, the prosecutor of Neka.
Local people say the power plant had initially complied with the prosecutor’s order, but recently reverted back to using the banned oil.
Officials at the power plant, including Meysam Emadi, head of public relations office, claim that the feedstock allocated to the station is not enough and from time to time it has to burn mazut to keep generating electricity.
"The National Iranian Oil Company should increase our feedstock; otherwise, we will have to burn mazut to meet the province's power demand."
The 2,700-megawatt power plant is composed of four steam power generation units plus three gas units and accounts for 6% of the country's total power output.
