Two small-scale power plants with distributed generation system joined the national grid in Rafsanjan County, Kerman Province on Tuesday, managing director of the provincial electricity distribution company said.
With a capacity of 58 MW, the plants were built by a private company and cost $38 million, the Energy Ministry news portal quoted Aliasghar Nasrollahi as saying.
Each plant (with capacity to produce 29 MW) has three gas-powered generators.
Distributed generation or on-site generation (OSG) refers to electricity produced in small quantities near the point of use, as alternative or supplement to traditional centralized grid-connected power.
It reduces the cost and complexity associated with transmission and distribution, while helping offset peak electricity demand and stabilizes the local grid.
The small-scale station will help sustain load in Rafsanjan industrial town during peak hours.
Reportedly, the peak hour demand in the central province has surpassed 40 MW.
Located in the southeast, Kerman is among the largest provinces in Iran. A region with dry climate, it has sufficient solar radiation and in recent years many solar farms and rooftop photovoltaic systems have been installed there. The new plant boosts solar capacity in the desert province to 44 MW.
Expansion of Solar Farms
In related news, the ministry said the third 10 MW photovoltaic power plant in the province was linked to the national power grid in Mahan County. There are two other 10-MW solar farms functioning in Baft and Bardsir counties in the region.
The new farm was built by a private company over 20 hectares.
Costing $5 million, it will help save 4,500 cubic meters of water and reduce greenhouse gases by as much as 14,000 tons a year.
An estimated 926 rooftop-mounted systems are already functioning with a total capacity of 8,228 kilowatts.
Iran's power capacity is about 70,000 megawatts, of which 850 MW comes from renewable sources including solar, wind, small-scale hydroelectric and waste-to-energy power plants and biomass factories.
Investment by private firms in the renewable energy sector has surpassed $1.1 billion, mostly in solar power plant construction.
