A declared goal of the government is to develop renewable energy in the deprived and remote areas. The Energy Ministry and private companies are building 50 big and 2,000 small solar power plants in regions across the country, said the deputy managing director of the Solar Power Plant Project Management Company.
Iran’s electricity comes mainly from thermal power plants that consume massive amounts of fossil fuels, mostly natural gas, and are the main source of greenhouse gases that have a serious negative impact on air quality, ISNA reported.
Expanding solar farms and rooftop photovoltaic power stations will help reduce consumption of fossil fuels and reduce environmental pollutants, Kamran Dourandish said.
Moreover, it will help create employment, especially in rural areas, where people are migrating in unusually big numbers due to the water crisis and deteriorating economic conditions.
Solar power is becoming an increasingly important part of the planet's energy mix. In Iran, the government is offering incentives to support solar energy production to expedite the shift from fossil fuel to renewables.
NDFI Loans
“Installing a 1-kilowatt solar power plant for a house would cost $700,” Dourandish said, and added that the National Development Fund of Iran has allocated $750 million to expand solar farms and rooftop power stations.
The Energy Ministry intends to increase the purchase price of electricity generated by solar power plants by 30%
Rural folks who want to set up a rooftop station in their house are eligible for a $500 loan from the fund.
Referring to a memorandum of understanding signed between the Solar Power Plant Project Management Company and the Post Bank of Iran last year, Dourandish said the bank is committed to paying $70 million for financing solar farms with total capacity of 50 MW.
The agreement aims to support the role of private companies in the gradually expanding solar market.
The Energy Ministry says it will create 8,000 MW of new renewable energy capacity by 2030. Iran is overtly dependent on thermal power and renewables account for only 670 MW of the total annual 82,000 MW.
To reduce investment risks in the solar sector, the ministry in 2016 announced its commitment to sign 20-year power purchase deals with the private solar power plants and foreign investors.
The ministry buys solar output from small-scale stations with the capacity of 1 MW and less at 8 cents for each kilowatt-hour and the electricity generated from solar farms of over 1 MW capacity at 5 cents.
“The ministry intends to increase the purchase price of electricity generated by solar power plants by 30%,” Dourandish said.
Regarding the indigenization of 85% of the equipment used in solar power plants, he said, “We import solar invertors from Germany, China and South Korea.”
Domestic companies now have the ability and expertise to manufacture machinery and parts including photovoltaic panels, cables and transformers.
