Two small-scale photovoltaic power stations (2 MW capacity) have been synchronized with the national grid in Isfahan Province.
Located in Talkhuncheh, a city in Mobarakeh County, the plants were built by the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Company (SATBA), a subsidiary of the Energy Ministry and cost $4 million, the Energy Ministry news website reported.
The plants will generate 3.5 million hours of electricity per annum and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save consumption of fossil fuels (1 million cubic meters) and water (770,000 cubic meters) a year.
In related news, the website quoted Homayoun Haeri, a deputy energy minister, as saying that construction of a 10 megawatt solar farm in Barzak City, Kashan County in Isfahan began last month.
It will cost $8 million and is being built by private companies.
“The project will be completed in six months and the equipment and solar panels will be supplied by domestic companies.”
The central Isfahan Province has five utility-scale solar power stations (5 MW capacity) with total output at 30 MW.
A 1-MW floating photovoltaic farm is being installed on 1.5 hectares of an industrial lake in Shahid Mohammad Montazeri Power Plant in the region.
The new solar farm will annually supply 1.9 million kW/h of electricity to the national grid and help save 38,000 cubic meters of water in the arid province fast running out of water.
Iran has a diverse climate of vast windy lands and more than 300 sunny days a year, which makes it ideal to tap into wind and solar power.
Based on Energy Ministry data, solar power plants top the list of renewable energy facilities (44%), followed by wind power plants (40%). About 13% comes from small hydropower plants, 2% are geothermal and 1% is for biomass.
