Iran's top engineering and energy conglomerate MAPNA Group is considering the conversion of all its single-cycle power plants into combined cycles, the managing director of MAPNA said on Sunday.
"Plans are being devised to change all MAPNA's power plants into combined cycles parallel with a move that started in 2005," Abbas Aliabadi was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
"Many facilities have since been converted into the clean, eco-friendly combined cycles," he added.
Aliabadi further said that "if the projects go as planned, state plants will also join the scheme of converting all the country's single-cycle plants into combined cycles."
However, according to the official, the fulfillment of this goal depends on sorting out the financial hurdles.
"In the electricity sector, projects with a total capacity of 10,000 megawatts are underway, which have either stopped operating or slowed down due to financial restrictions," he said.
Aliabadi noted that all the projects are financed by domestic investors, and as soon as the financial issues are resolved, the projects will be back on track.
"The Energy Ministry owes over $900 million to us which, if settled, would help resume and expedite the projects," he said.
The discussion is not only about building new, but rather converting simple-cycle power plants to combined cycles. The increased efficiency and output of a combined-cycle plant is appealing, not only because of the increased power generated but also for its lower total emissions.
Combined-cycle plants offer nearly a third more power for approximately the same fuel costs, which is an attractive option for areas with high demand.
The MAPNA chief opined that the top priority of the power industry is to convert a gas or heater unit into a combined-cycle one.
“If this is done, there will be huge resources from the country’s fuel economy, which is a huge income," he said.
According to Aliabadi, if gas power plants are transformed into combined-cycle units, over 600 million cubic meters of natural gas or diesel fuel could be saved.
“MAPNA is technically capable of producing 8,000 megawatts annually, while the company now produces 2,000-3,000 megawatts per annum," he said.
MAPNA Group is a leading contractor in the field of electricity, oil, gas and transportation, and the largest manufacturer of power plants’ main components in the Middle East and West Asia. It is a leader in implementing power plant projects.
$45m of Power Projects
In line with the push to stabilize power supply in the ever-sprawling province of Tehran, 57 power transmission and distribution projects were launched on Sunday.
The projects, with a total value of 3.82 trillion rials (around $45 million), included the development of 400-kilovolt Tehranpars substation, which joined the grid in a ceremony attended by Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian.
"The substation is aimed at boosting East Tehran's power transmission and distribution, reducing outages and helping meet the demands of other sectors, including agriculture and industry," Ardakanian said.
According to reports, there is a 1,400-MW supply and demand imbalance in the capital city.
Ardakanian said plans are underway to implement 10 steam units with a combined capacity of 1,600 MW by next summer to prevent power outages.
