One of the programs of the Energy Ministry in the current fiscal year (started March 20) is to use gas condensates for gas turbines in power plants, Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian said in a video conference with the provincial power officials on Monday.
The advantages of using gas condensates in turbines instead of natural gas is that it has lower emissions and is more environmentally-friendly, Mehr News Agency reported.
A lean, premixed, pre-vaporized (LPP) combustion technology has been developed that converts liquid fuels into a substitute for natural gas. This technology offers the possibility of using gas condensates for power generation in a gas turbine equipped with a dry low emission system. DLE is a technology that reduces nitrogen oxide emissions that exhausts out of gas-fired turbines.
Natural gas condensate is a low-density mixture of hydrocarbon liquids that are present as gaseous components in raw natural gas produced from gas fields.
As Iran increases gas production (about 870 million cubic meters per day), gas condensate production also rises. South Pars Gas Complex accounts for 92% of total gas condensate output, producing over 685,000 barrels per day, a part of which is sold to refineries and petrochemical complexes as feedstock to produce value-added products.
With the Energy Ministry’s new decision, a part of the SPGC output will be supplied to power plants later this year. The minister did not clarify on when the program would be launched officially.
Thermal power plants, which generate 80% of electricity in Iran, are seen as a major source of air pollution due to the greenhouse gasses they emit.
Ardakanian further said that 846 megawatts will be added to power generation capacity by the end of the current year that will raise installed power capacity to over 85,000 MW.
He added that following the attempts to reduce power loss in the distribution network, the figure that dropped below 10% last year, is expected to reach 9.2% by the end of the current fiscal from 9.76% now.
Doing away with malfunctioning equipment, supply lines, utility poles, self-contained cables and use of smart electric meters are measures taken to help reduce electricity loss.
On average, $22 million is spent annually to optimize, upgrade and expand the national power grid to meet routinely growing demand.
The money goes largely for improving and replacing old and dilapidated distribution equipment and parts and developing infrastructure.
The Energy Ministry has said that
