Close to 630 megawatts of electricity was added to the national grid on Wednesday, raising overall installed capacity to 83,630 MW, head of Iran’s Thermal Power Plants Holding Company said.
"Two steam units and one gas unit in combined cycle power stations in Tehran, Assalouyeh (Bushehr Province) and Bandar Abbas (Hormozgan Province) became operational simultaneously and cost $860 million," Mohsen Tarztalab was quoted by IRNA as saying.
The first gas unit in Hengam Power Plant in Bandar Abbas with 307 MW capacity cost $554 million.
“Hengam is among the first combined cycle plants in the country to use F-class gas turbines with an efficiency rate of 58%.”
Mapna Group -- Iran's top engineering and energy conglomerate bought F-class gas turbines from the German industrial giant Siemens in 2016.
F-class gas turbines are defined by high performance, low power generation cost, long intervals between inspections, and service-friendly design. Optimized flow and cooling add up to high efficiency and economically viable power generation in combined cycle applications.
The plant will soon have a 292 MW steam unit, which will raise total capacity to 906 MW. On completion, the plant will supply electricity to 150,000 homes in the southern province off the Persian Gulf.
Thermal power plants in Hormozgan Province have installed capacity of over 3,000 MW and there are plans to increase output to 7,000 MW by 2024.
A combined cycle power plant uses both gas and steam turbines to produce up to 50% more electricity from the same fuel than a traditional simple cycle plant. The waste heat from the gas turbine is sent to a nearby steam turbine, which also generates electricity.
Assaluyeh Power Plant
Referring to the second project (Assaluyeh Power Plant), Tarztalab said the first steam unit of the station with 160 MW capacity was linked to the grid boosting production to 1,120 MW.
The plant’s gas units had earlier added 960 MW to the network. Costing $154 million, the project was funded by Mapna Group.
The steam unit helps save 282 million cubic meters of gas a year.
Effective steps have been taken in recent years to convert conventional plants into combined-cycle units to improve efficiency and cut pollution and costs.
Average efficiency of domestic power plants is said to be around 37%. Thermal power stations account for 80% of total power generation of around 84 gigawatts in Iran and enhancing their efficiency is crucial.
Parand Combined-Cycle Station
The TPPHC chief said the third and final steam unit of Parand Combined-Cycle Power Plant in south Tehran was linked with the national power grid on Wednesday.
"It cost $152 million and adds 160 MW of electricity to the network to help make up for a part of the high consumption in summer when demand reaches 57,000 MW."
MAPNA Group is in charge of Parand power project that consists of six heat recovery steam generators with a total capacity of 1,434 MW with an efficiency rate of 31%.
Located 30 kilometers southwest of Tehran, the plant has three steam units each having 60 MW capacity, air-cooled condenser system, 400 kv substation and a 35-km transmission line.
The first steam unit became operational in November 2017 and helps save 700 mcm of natural gas per year.
Regarding energy development plans underway, he said TPPHC is constructing gas-powered units in Kashan, Urmia, Chabahar, Fars and Qeshm combined cycle power plants, which will together generate 7,000 MW.
Tarztalab said the thermal units, which either use steam turbines, combined-cycle or gas-powered, account for 66 GW.
"Steam, gas and combined-cycle units account for 16 GW, 27 GW and 23 GW of the thermal stations, respectively."
In related news, IRNA said a 230/60-kilovolt substation in Baharestan County in Tehran Province was inaugurated.
The project cost 130 billion rials ($8.5 million) and will supply electricity to 110,000 new subscribers. It will help boost power transmission and reduce outages in the hot summer months when the mercury climbs to 48 degrees centigrade.
Baharestan County is located between Robat Karim and Eslamshahr (south Tehran) and has a population of 600,000.
