Iranian knowledge-based companies funded by the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology have produced generators and gearboxes for wind turbines.
A number of Iranian universities were also able to produce the raw materials needed for constructing rotor blades for wind turbines with the financial support of the vice presidency and the Office of Technology Development of Renewable Energies, Mehr News Agency reported.
Wind farms and turbines have been developed in Iran to bypass the issue of sanctioned parts and materials.
The country’s first simulation of small hydropower plants was also developed with the help of researchers of Sharif University of Technology. The simulation has been installed in a hydropower plant in Azerbaijan Province and has shown good performance.
A 20 kW fuel cell was also indigenously developed in Isfahan Province with the help of the vice presidency and the Renewable Energy Organization of Iran.
The production of fuel cell is a great achievement for Iran, as fuel cell technology will play an important role in addressing the growing energy demand in the coming decades.
In January, Iran announced plans to double its renewable energy output by the end of current Iranian year (March 19, 2016), thus reaching 400 MW by the yearend.
Iran’s power generation capacity currently stands at 68.38 gigawatts, which has grown by 7% annually over the past 10 years.
Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian also said that presently, Iran possesses the world’s 14th largest electrical network, adding that with the operation of the first pumped-storage plant, Iran has achieved the ability to start or stop generating electricity in less than 30 second.
The Islamic Republic currently exports electricity to Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan (including the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic), Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.
