The first 160 megawatt steam unit of Ferdowsi Power Plant in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi Province, was launched at the weekend, as the first step to convert the conventional thermal station into a more efficient combined-cycle plant, managing director of Iran's Thermal Power Plants Holding Company said.
“Ferdowsi Plant had six gas units generating 954 MW,” Mohsen Tarztalab said, adding that two more 160 MW steam units are under construction. Upon completion of the two units the plant’s capacity will reach 1,434 MW, the Energy Ministry news portal Paven quoted him as saying.
The gas section, which came on stream a decade ago, consumes 2.1 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The upgraded plant's natural gas consumption should decrease by an estimated 1.1 bcm.
The project to convert the plant’s system into combined-cycle is focused on raising efficiency by 17%. The conventional plant’s efficiency was 33% and shift to combined-cycle will raise it to 50%.
Energy efficiency of a conventional thermal power station, considered salable energy produced, as percentage of the heating value of the fuel consumed, is typically 33% to 48%.
Over 95% of the equipment used in the project to convert the thermal power plant into a combined-cycle system are produced domestically.
Iran’s top engineering and energy enterprise Mapna Group is the contractor of the project. With 41 subsidiary companies, Mapna produces 60 products and offers 85 types of services to the power industry alone. About 50% of power is used by Mapna. It has implemented more than 100 major energy projects worth over $30 billion in 30 years.
With an installed power production capacity of over 84,500 MW, Iran meets almost 80% of its electricity demand from aging thermal plants that outlived their usefulness. Converting conventional plants to combined-cycle units is a government priority.
A combined-cycle power plant produces up to 50% more electricity from the same fuel than a traditional simple-cycle power plant. This is because waste heat from a gas turbine is rerouted to the nearby steam turbine to generate power.
Steam Units
“Steam units in combined-cycled power plants across the country, including the Caspian Power Plant in northern Mazandaran Province, Sabalan and Heris plants in East Azarbaijan, Urmia Power Station in West Azarbaijan and Shirvan Power Plant in Shirvan County, North Khorasan Province, are scheduled to come on stream by March.
Each new (steam) unit will add between 250 MW and 300 MW to the national power grid. In addition to the launch of the steam unit at Ferdowsi Power Plant, 24 power projects in Khuzestan and Sistan-Baluchestan provinces were also launched at the weekend.
Five small-scale solar power plants and four power distribution projects in Khuzestan, 11 distribution projects in Sistan-Baluchestan, and 400kV Zahedan-Bam transmission line were among projects that were put into operation at $240 million.
