Close to 3,000 megawatts of new electricity generation capacity was added to the national grid in the last fiscal year that ended in March, the Energy Ministry spokesman for the power department said Saturday.
"The capacity which was 81 gigawatts in March 2019 reached 84 GW – up 4%," Barq News quoted Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi as saying.
Giving a breakdown, he said eight new gas units and combined-cycle power stations in Shirvan County, North Khorasan Province, Tehran, Assalouyeh (Bushehr Province) and Bandar Abbas (Hormozgan Province) added 2,400 MW to the grid that has been expanding as consumption rises unabated.
Small-scale power plants with distributed generation system became operational in Zanjan, Kurdestan, Khuzestan and Kerman provinces, adding at least 250 MW.
Regarding green energy, Mashhadi noted that new solar and wind farms in Tehran, Yazd, Qom, Khorasan Razavi and Kerman, with total capacity of 100 MW, were launched in the past 12 months.
Hydroelectric output increased to 150 MW in 2019, he said without providing details. He also did not reflect on new combined heat and power (CHP) plants that went on stream in Gilan, Markazi and Hamedan provinces during the year.
“Iran’s power generation capacity has risen by 13,000 MW over the past six years and close to 7,000 MW will be added by 2021.”
Regarding energy development plans underway, he said Iran’s Thermal Power Plants Holding Company is constructing gas-powered combined-cycle plants in Kashan, Urmia, Chabahar, Fars and Qeshm, which together will generate 7,000 MW.
Rise in Production
Close to 309 billion kilowatt hours of electricity was produced from assorted power stations (thermal, solar, DG, CHP and wind) in 2019, indicating a 6.1% rise compared to the year before.
The Energy Ministry spokesman added that the number of electricity meters nationwide exceeds 36.5 million with one million new subscribers having joined the national grid during the last fiscal year.
Household, agricultural and industrial sectors account for 28.5 million, 436,000 and 242,000 consumers respectively. The rest are public and commercial companies.
Iran is the largest exporter and importer of electricity in the Middle East.
It trades electricity with four neighbors on its northwestern and western borders, namely Azerbaijan Republic (including Nakhchivan Autonomous Region), Turkey, Armenia and Iraq.
Under swap deals, Iran exports electricity to Armenia and Azerbaijan in winter and imports when domestic demand soars in summer.
Based on data from the Statistical Center of Iran, Tavanir exported 2.9 billion kilowatt hours of power to Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan between June and September 2019.
Although domestic demand also peaked in the same period (summer), state-run Tavanir company hit a record on the export front.
The figure (2.9 billion kWh) indicates a rise of 190% compared to the corresponding period in 2018. Between June and September 2017, 2018 and 2019, Tavanir imported 1.2 billion kWh, 700 million kWh and 300 million kWh, respectively.
Data from the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran show that the treasury earned $4 billion from electricity export between 2013 and 2018.
Iran exported over 42,926 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity to neighbors during the period.
Power generation cost, including production and transmission, is 2 cents per kilowatt-hour. Electricity is subsidized and sold for 0.5 cents per kWh inside the country.
Iran’s power sector is present in 40 plus international markets as an exporter of goods and technical services under engineering, procurement and construction contracts.
Iranian contractors have 58 projects in other countries, including Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Oman and India.
