Plans are underway to build a 500-megawatt photovoltaic power station at Tehran’s Oil Refinery Company, the head of the company said.
“The refinery is committed to working for a low-carbon future, which primarily involves reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” Hamed Armanfar was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
This will be the first solar plant in a refining facility of Iran. Renewable energy is the cheapest option for improving access to electricity, reducing air pollution and cutting CO2 emissions, he added.
It also helps boost world gross domestic product growth by 1%, employing close to 29 million people and generating a 15% increase in welfare, mainly through health benefits from reduced air pollution.
Renewables can help transform unsustainable production and consumption patterns, protect biodiversity, reverse deforestation and combat land degradation.
“Moving from brown to green energy is the direction of the future, which is ripe with business opportunities and near-term benefits such as cleaner air and new jobs. It is not an option, but an imperative for achieving a better economy and better lives,” the head of the company said.
The generation of electricity by thermal power stations needs fuel as feedstock and water for cooling purposes while polluting the environment, whereas renewables, being eco-friendly, require neither fuel nor water, nor do they emit greenhouse gas.
Currently, 980 MW of electricity are produced through renewable resources in Iran, which account for about 1% of the total power production capacity in the country (86,000 MW).
Solar photovoltaics showed the sharpest cost decline over 2010-20 at 82%, followed by harnessing solar power at 47%, onshore wind at 40% and offshore wind at 29%.
Euro-5 Gasoline
According to Armanfar, the production of gasoline compliant with Euro-5 emission standards will commence soon at Tehran Oil Refinery Company.
“The refining facility is producing 7 million liters of unleaded gasoline with an octane rating of 87 [regular] on a daily basis. Nevertheless, projects are being carried out to enhance gasoline quality,” he said.
“The completion of a Continuous Catalytic Reformer (CCR) unit and a Reduced Crude Desulfurization (RDC) unit, which have made 85% progress, will enable the refinery to produce Euro-5 gasoline in the near future. The units are estimated to cost $250 million.”
Euro 4 and premium gasoline have octane ratings of 91 and 95 respectively. The two units (CCR/RDC) will help increase octane to above 96 and decrease benzene level to under 1%.
The company’s chief noted that more refineries nationwide can start producing Euro-5 gasoline but need advanced technology and significant investments.
European emission standards define the acceptable limits for exhaust emissions of new vehicles sold in EU member states. The emission standards are defined in a series of European Union directives outlining the progressive introduction of increasingly stringent standards.
The National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company is now producing 115 million liters of gasoline per day, of which 79 million liters comply with Euro-5 emission standards.
"NIORDC's Euro-5 gasoline output was zero in 2013," he said, adding that Shazand Refinery in the central city of Arak, Markazi Province, started producing 17 million liters of high-quality fuel per day in 2014.
Output reached 28 ml/d in 2016 and rose to 43 ml/d in 2017, as the Bandar Abbas Refinery in Hormozgan Province also started producing Euro-5 gasoline.
The Persian Gulf Star Refinery in southern Hormozgan Province came on stream in mid-2017 because of which gasoline production increased by 76% to 76 ml/d. The venture in Tabriz increased the output to 79 ml/d.
Armanfar said the Tehran refinery project for reducing mazut production is in the preliminary stage.
Founded in 1969, Tehran Oil Refinery Company is located 15 kilometers south of the capital and includes two sections (southern and northern). Its crude refining capacity (250,000 barrels a day) has risen by 200% over the past five decades.
The company’s daily diesel output is 8 million liters, a part of which is sold in Tehran and Alborz provinces, and the rest is piped to Mashhad in Khorasan Razavi Province.
