Production of renewable energy in Iran has surpassed 5.47 billion kilowatt hours since 2009. If this volume was produced by thermal plants that consume gas as feedstock, more than 1.55 billion cubic meters of gas would be used, IRNA reported.
Producing electricity from green sources has helped the country reduce greenhouse gases by as much as 3.7 million tons over 11 years.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is among the major challenges nations big and small are facing to varying degrees.
Greenhouse gases are capable of trapping the earth's emitted radiation, which otherwise escapes back into space. The primary greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone.
Renewable electricity helped Iran save more than 1.2 billion liters of water in the said period.
Iran's installed power capacity is 84,000 megawatts, of which 840 MW comes from renewable sources including solar, wind, small-scale hydroelectric and waste-to-energy power plants and biomass factories.
Renewable energy is the least expensive option for improving access to electricity, reducing air pollution and cutting CO2 emissions.
It also contributes to sustainable socioeconomic growth, boosting global gross domestic product growth by 1%, employing close to 29 million people and generating 15% increase in welfare, mainly through health benefits from reduced air pollution, based on a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency.
According to the director general of the project management office at the state-owned Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization (Satba), 54 renewable energy power plants are under construction across the country.
“Solar, wind and hydroelectric power plants have a total capacity of 230 MW,” Ali Shabnavard said.
“Among projects in the pipeline, 28 renewable energy power stations will come online by the end of the current Persian calendar year in March 2021,” he added.
When all the plants are operational, they will supply almost 493,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity from renewable sources into the national grid per annum and will help save 140 million cubic meters of gas and 109 million liters of water a year. In addition, CO2 emissions will be cut by 318,000 tons in the national electricity generation process annually.
According to Energy Ministry data, solar and wind account for 48% and 36% of the domestic renewable power production respectively.
Small-scale hydroelectric plants, waste-to-energy plants and biomass factories constitute 13%, 2% and 1% of the total renewable output, respectively.
Renewables can help transform unsustainable production and consumption patterns, protect biodiversity, reverse deforestation and combat land degradation.
Investment by private firms in the sector has surpassed $1.1 billion, mostly in solar power.
