The maintenance and modernization of the Dez Hydroelectric Power Plant located near Dez Dam in Khuzestan Province is underway to increase its capacity and prepare for the hot summer when power consumption rises, the director of repairs and optimization of power plants at Khuzestan Water and Power Organization said.
“The hydroelectric power plant has eight units with a capacity of 65 megawatts each, or a total of 520 MW. As it has been operating for more than 50 years, the units needed a major overhaul to raise their output capacity, which is currently carried out by domestic expert and engineers,” ISNA also quoted Behnam Shafiei Moqaddam as saying.
“When the operations are complete, the capacity of each unit will reach 90 MW and the total capacity of the plant will increase by 200 MW,” he added.
Located on the Dez River, the dam can hold 2.6 billion cubic meters of water and its primary purpose is hydroelectric power generation and irrigation of up to 130,000 hectares of farmlands in the region.
Dez Dam, as one of the major dams in Khuzestan, is currently 75% full, which means there is enough water stored there to be used both for power production and irrigation of farms.
Recently, a water supply project was launched in Khuzestan to transfer clean water from Dez River to several small towns and rural districts.
The project is aimed at alleviating the water problem, curbing pollution of freshwater resources and reducing salt content in water networks supplying Abadan, Andimeshk, Dezful, Khorramshahr, Ahvaz, Shadegan, Shoush and Susangard.
Located in Khuzestan Province, Dez River is a tributary of Karun River, which is 400 km long.
Big Reservoirs
Over 9 billion cubic meters of water have flowed into Khuzestan Province’s big reservoirs since the beginning of the current water year (September 2022).
The figure [9 bcm] indicates a 20% rise in volume compared with the corresponding period of last year.
The three large dams of the region, namely Maroun, Dez and Karoun, are respectively 85%, 75% and 70% full and the water level of dams is expected to increase gradually as snow has started thawing.
However, the case with Karkheh Dam is different and its water level is lower than that of last year by 11%.
Karkheh Dam is designed to irrigate 320,000 hectares and feed a 400-megawatt hydroelectric power plant. Drinking water for 52% of Khuzestan’s population are supplied by Karkheh River, so the sustainable supply of drinking water is the top priority, followed by water supply for farming.
The dam water level has dropped below 1 billion cubic meters, while it has a capacity of 5.3 bcm.
Karkheh hydroelectric power plant has gone off the grid as a result of water shortage. The dam, which overflowed two years ago due to torrential and unprecedented rainfall, has difficulty supplying water for drinking and no water can be allocated to the power station.
Farmers in the province have been urged to observe the prohibition on the cultivation of water-intensive crops such as paddy and corn.
Officials in the southwestern province have encouraged farmers to cultivate alternative crops until the water shortage and drought are over.
Agricultural and environmental experts have been urging the government for years to restrict rice farming to the water-rich provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran, home to a majority of Iran’s paddy fields, and ban the activity in the rest of Iran.
The decline in precipitation in the last two water years has worsened the drought facing the country for years, which consequently caused water stress.
According to provincial authorities, around 700 small towns and villages in the oil-rich region have difficulty getting water supply.
