President Ebrahim Raisi inaugurated 11 power transmission and distribution projects in the central Yazd Province on Thursday.
Costing $50 million, the projects are aimed at network construction in urban areas, electricity supply to villages, repairing networks in rural and urban regions, improving lighting of cities and villages, preventing grid voltage drop and stabilizing power supply in the hot region in the summer, the Energy Ministry’s news portal reported.
Giving a breakdown, Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian noted that six 63/20 kilovolt distribution substations in Meibod, Mehriz and Ashkezar counties went on stream at an estimated cost of $25 million to increase electricity supply capacity and reduce power wastage.
Two 230/63 transmission substations in Ardakan and Behabad counties became operational simultaneously with the help of the private sector to stabilize power supply in the area.
“Close to 100,000 meters of low- and medium-pressure cables have been installed as part of the projects.”
According to the official, the central Yazd Province currently has 73,000 electricity subscribers.
Yazd is an industrial region and almost 75% of the power in the province are used by industries. It is one of Iran's well-known centers for textile, ceramic and construction material production. It is also a major tourist attraction.
The provincial capital, Yazd, has the highest solar power output in the country. With 3,200 plus sunlight hours in a year, the world’s largest adobe city is suitable for harnessing solar power as it is situated near an oasis where two deserts meet, namely Dasht-e Kavir and Dasht-e Lut, the latter known as one of the hottest places on earth.
Solar radiation in Iran is estimated to be about 1,800 to 2,200 kilowatt-hours per cubic meter annually, which is higher than the global average.
Studies show renewable investments in Iran are profitable.
Therefore, the Energy Ministry plans to raise annual renewable energy output to 5,000 MW in four years with the participation of private companies.
In the first quarter of 2020, the global use of renewable energy was 1.5% higher than in Q1 of 2019, according to the International Energy Agency's recent report.
"Renewables are also resilient to lower electricity demand because they are generally dispatched before other electricity sources due to their low operating costs or regulations that give them priority," IEA stated.
Solar Thermal Power Plant
Iran’s first solar thermal power plant will become operational in Yazd Province in 2022, which will be integrated with the provincial combined-cycle power plant, Mohsen Tarztalab, the former head of Iran's Thermal Power Plants Holding Company, said.
“The 20-megawatt station – the first of its kind in the country – is under construction in Ashkezar County on a 40-hectare land adjacent to the Yazd combined-cycle power plant.”
An integrated solar combined-cycle (ISCC) power plant is a hybrid technology that integrates a solar thermal field within a combined cycle plant. In ISCC plants, solar energy is used as auxiliary heat supplier, supporting the steam cycle, which results in increased generation capacity, or a reduction of fossil fuel use.
The unit in the central province is now generating electricity through two 159-megawatt gas units and a 132-MW steam unit. The solar section will add 20 MW to the output.
Tarztalab noted that solar panels installed in the farm are being manufactured by domestic companies.
“Unlike conventional solar farms, solar thermal power generation systems collect and concentrate sunlight to produce the high temperature heat needed to generate electricity,” he said, adding that the new systems have solar energy collectors with two main components, namely reflectors that capture and focus sunlight onto a receiver.
