Twenty three water and electricity projects costing $34 million came on stream in four provinces on Tuesday including 11 in Qom Province, 10 in Zanjan, two in Isfahan and Semnan provinces, the Energy Ministry news portal Paven reported.
In the central Qom region the projects comprise seven power supply units, a hydroelectric power plant and a solar power station, as well as a small-scale power plant with distributed generation system.
Distributed generation refers to electricity produced in small quantities near the point of use, as alternative or supplement to traditional centralized grid-connected power. It reduces the cost and complexity associated with transmission and distribution, while offsetting peak electricity demand and stabilizing the local grid.
The projects will help cut power loss, strengthen the distribution network and improve network stability.
Power projects in the western Zanjan Province comprise construction of transmission lines, installing transformers and building substations. To reduce power waste in the network copper wires have been replaced by aerial bundled cables.
Aerial bundled conductors (ABC) are overhead power lines using several insulated phase conductors bundled tightly together, usually with a bare neutral conductor.
This contrasts with the traditional practice of using uninsulated conductors separated by air gaps. The variation of bundled conductors utilizes the same principles as overhead power lines, except that they are closer together to the point of touching but each conductor is surrounded by an insulating layer.
Curbing electricity theft and increasing infrastructure security during natural disasters are among the benefits of replacing and improving the ageing network.
Water supply project to 1,716 households in 11 villages in eastern Semnan Province were inaugurated with 14.1 km of transmission lines and storage tanks to hold 860 cubic meters of potable water for 5,226 rural residents.
In central Isfahan Province, a desalination facility, a water treatment plant and three water storage tanks with a capacity to hold 12,000 cubic meters of water came on stream to supply drinking water to Noushabad County and Kashan City.
According to Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian, who inaugurated the projects via videoconference, since the beginning of the current Persian calendar year last March, 212 power, water and wastewater projects were launched and 38 more will be inaugurated within two months.
He said next week several water and electricity projects that cost $240 million will be inaugurated in North Khorasan and Kurdistan provinces.
In North Khorasan, the steam unit of a combined cycle power plant with a capacity of 160 MW will start operation.
Ramasht Dam near Sanandaj City, a water treatment plant in Saqqez and a wastewater treatment plant in Kamyaran City are among projects in the Kurdistan border region.
