Thermal power plants have indigenized over 80% of their parts and equipment, director general of the Technology and Indigenization of Power Plants Office at the Thermal Power Plants Holding Company said.
“Last [fiscal] year [ended March 20, 2021], more than 350,000 components worth $10 million were produced by domestic companies,” Ali Isapour was also quoted as saying by the Energy Ministry’s news agency Paven.
According to the latest report, 36 domestic contracts, worth $11 million, have been concluded this year for manufacturing various parts, he added.
Referring to gas turbine blades, he said, “All the blades, which use high technology and were difficult to import due to the US sanctions, are now made by domestic knowledge-based companies.”
Thermal plants account for 80% of total power output (84 gigawatts) in the country of 83 million people. Over 80 thermal power plants with around 66 gigawatts of capacity are operational.
The United States slapped tough economic sanctions after the twice-impeached president, Donald Trump, unilaterally abandoned the landmark Iran nuclear deal in May 2018. The sanctions, particularly on the energy, banking, insurance and shipping sectors, bar US companies from trade with Iran. Foreign firms are not spared.
A problem of thermal power plants in Iran is that many have long outlived their usefulness. Power plants built more than half a century ago are still in service, largely due to the government’s inability to replace them under the difficult economic conditions.
“Equipment and parts used in power stations must be repaired or replaced after a certain period,” Isapour said.
Components made by local companies have been approved by the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran.
In addition to upholding national standards, the parts are sent to international institutions for tests and verification.
The official said $1 million have been earmarked for R&D projects, including those of universities.
Iran is among the top five countries in the world in power plant construction and manufactures a variety of machineries, turbines, generators and control systems.
THPCC oversees dozens of fossil fuel power plants. It is also in charge of building 7,000 MW of gas-powered units for the Shiraz, Tabriz, Kashan, Urmia and Chabahar combined cycle power plants.
Steps have been taken to convert conventional plants into combined-cycle units, as the latter use both gas and steam turbines to produce up to 50% more electricity from the same fuel than a traditional simple cycle plant. The waste heat from the gas turbines is sent to nearby steam turbines that again generate electricity.
Power Stations Overhaul Underway
In related news, IRNA reported that the overhaul of power stations, which started in September is underway and has registered 29% progress so far.
Maintenance programs for all thermal power plants will be complete by next June before the onset of summer.
These programs will help add hundreds of megawatts to the national output, at a much lower cost compared to the construction of new power plants.
The construction of a new plant is costly, almost $600 per kilowatt. Last year, the capacity of the plants was increased by about 200 MW through overhaul programs with barely 3% of the cost of building a new power station ($20 per kilowatt).
The routine overhaul of all thermal stations is expected to cost $460 million.
Reducing power wastage in the production, transfer and distribution networks, in addition to enhancing the efficiency of power plants, is a primary goal of the Energy Ministry.
