Hydropower plants are expected to generate more than 55,000 megawatt-hours of electricity on a daily basis between June and August that will be 20% more than last year’s output of 46,000 MW hours per day in the same period, the head of Dispatching Department at Iran Water Resources Management Company said.
“The nationwide project to overhaul 59 hydroelectric power plants to improve their output finishes in May and all stations will be fully operational in June,” Javad Hajiani was also quoted as saying by Barq News.
The plants’ total production capacity is projected to reach 12,187 megawatts, yet the figure barely reached 11,000 MW last year due to technical defects in some stations, he added.
Timely care and maintenance have already added close to 5,000 MW of hydropower to the national grid.
According to the Energy Ministry, electricity produced from hydroelectric power plants last summer fell to 4.1 million megawatt-hours – a decline of 36% compared to last year’s corresponding period.
The hot summer led to much higher power consumption and together with hydropower deficits resulted in shortage of 15,000 MW of power.
Last year’s frequent load shedding and outages in most urban areas took a heavy toll on households and industries.
“Hydroelectric plants play a key role during power outages because they quickly reestablish supply after a blackout and support other plants [mostly thermal],” Hajiani said.
“There are 17 hydroelectric power plants under construction. When operational, they will add 3,725 MW to the total hydropower output.”
Hydropower is a renewable source of energy and cleaner compared to other sources. It constitutes almost 12,500 MW of Iran’s total installed power generation capacity of 85,000 MW and plays a key role during outages in summer by quickly restoring supply and supporting other plants, he added.
Indigenized Equipment
According to the official, engineers have indigenized an important piece of equipment used in hydroelectric power plants.
“The automatic voltage regulator [AVR], which is one of the main components in the hydroelectric industry, has been manufactured with domestic knowhow,” he said.
AVR regulates voltage during fluctuations and changes voltage into stable power. Fluctuation in voltage occurs mainly due to variation in load on the supply system. Variations in voltage, if huge, often damage power equipment.
“The turbine governor, another major part in power stations, was indigenized recently and is used in Sardasht hydropower station [West Azerbaijan Province] and Daryan hydropower plant [Kermanshah Province],” Hajiani said.
Global hydropower capacity reached 1,308 MW in 2019, as 50 countries and territories completed greenfield and upgrade projects, according to the 2020 Hydropower Status Report. A total of 15.6 GW in installed capacity were added in 2019, down from the 21.8 GW in 2018.
China topped the list with 8,540 megawatts, followed by Brazil (3,866 MW), Pakistan (2,487 MW), Turkey (1,085 MW), Angola (668 MW), Tajikistan (605 MW), Ecuador (556 MW), India (535 MW), Norway (419 MW) and Canada (401 MW).
Hydropower is produced in 150 countries because of its relatively low cost, making it a competitive source of renewable energy.
According to Mohsen Tarztalab, the head of Iran's Thermal Power Plants Holding Company, with the synchronization of the second steam unit of the Urmia Combined Cycle Power Station with the grid last year, the capacity of Iran's thermal power plants has surpassed 70,000 MW.
“Since September 2021, about 2,500 MW of new steam and gas units have been connected to the national electricity network. They include the gas units of Hengam and Iran LNG power plants and the steam units of Jahrom, Harris and Urmia power stations,” he said.
“So far, 587 steam and gas units have been built in 129 thermal power plants in the country.”
Tarztalab noted that 67% of the total capacity of thermal power plants in the country are owned by the private sector.
