Wind farm construction projects have nearly come to a halt all over Iran, as the much-needed turbines cannot be imported due to US sanctions, a member of Iran Renewable Energy Association said.
“Wind power stations need to be equipped with special turbines whose technology has long been monopolized by European firms that are not allowed to sell anything to Iran,” ILNA also quoted Mohammad Amin Zanganeh as saying.
Noting that Chinese manufacturing firms are not willing to provide Iran with the technology, he said, “Even if the equipment is imported from other countries like the UAE, we will face major problems for installing them and there will be no after-sales services or online support.”
Referring to other hurdles, Zanganeh noted that attracting foreign investment is out of the question because the Financial Action Task Force, the global anti-money laundering watchdog, has placed Iran on its blacklist.
“More importantly, the National Development Fund of Iran, the sovereign wealth fund, does not lend to domestic contractors as most of them cannot settle their debts due to sharp fluctuations in the foreign exchange market,” he said.
The official added that the Sarbisheh Wind Power Plant in Doreh rural district in South Khorasan Province and a 50-megawatt wind farm in Sistan-Baluchestan Province were both supposed to become operational in 2020, but it is not clear when they will come on stream.
Currently, renewables account for 980 megawatts of the total nominal power capacity (84,000 MW) in the country. So far, 20,000 people are involved in the construction, development and maintenance of solar, wind, hydroelectric, waste-to-energy and biomass power plants.
A total of 85 large power plants and 2,000 small-scale photovoltaic power stations are operating in the renewable sector while another 2,000 others are in different stages of construction.
Referring to the Sixth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2017-22) that envisages increasing renewable power by 5,000 MW, the official said the addition of 5,000 MW of renewable energy to the present 980 MW renewable output will help create 100,000 jobs.
Thanks to windy and sunny days, Iran has the potential to create a large number of jobs in the green energy sector, he added.
Engine for Employment
Renewables can serve as an engine for accelerating employment and development, Zanganeh said, noting that promoting the gradually expanding sector would create jobs for the rural people in deprived areas and there will be no need for them to migrate to cities in search of work.
Iran’s rural population is said to be 20 million strong, accounting for about 26% of the total 82 million people. It is being reported regularly that rural areas are being abandoned due to lack of work and a water crisis.
Iran has been suffering from drought and declining precipitation for decades and the water crisis has reached a new high in recent years.
Under the circumstances, the development of renewable energy in rural regions, with abundant land, unlimited access to sunlight and strong winds, can lead to sustainable income and help reduce the rural-to-urban migration.
According to a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), employment trends in the renewable energy sector are being shaped by a wide range of technical, economic and policy-driven factors, the report found.
China, in particular, is forging ahead and accounted for almost half of all renewable energy jobs last year.
"The role of renewables in the global energy system is expanding. This process is key to stabilizing the global climate, avoiding employment degradation and improving human health," Irena said.
"As the global transition toward a more sustainable energy system unfolds, the world's renewable energy workforce will continue to expand."
