The construction of the steam unit of Ghadir Qeshm Power Plant on Qeshm Island, off the Persian Gulf, is underway and will come on stream next summer.
According to the National Iranian Gas Company’s website, the steam unit will have a production capacity of 160 megawatts and when it becomes operational, the efficiency of the plant will rise from the current 33% to 49%.
A combined cycle power station uses both gas and steam turbines to produce up to 50% more electricity from the same fuel than traditional power plants.
The first gas unit of the plant was launched last September and the second gas unit came on stream two months later. Each with a capacity of 175 MW, the two units can jointly produce 350 MW of electricity.
Each gas unit uses 45,000 cubic meters of gas per hour and so far the power plant has generated over 1 million megawatt hours of electricity.
With the launch of the steam unit in the summer of 2022, the total electricity generation capacity of the power station will reach 510 MW.
Built over 73 hectares, the plant is a collaboration of Ghadir Investment Company and the industrial giant MAPNA. It is estimated to cost $360 million.
MAPNA is a group of companies involved in a range of projects, including the construction of thermal and renewable power plants, oil and gas field development, onshore and offshore drilling services, as well as the design and manufacture of equipment such as turbo-compressors for refineries and processing units, among others.
Established in 1992 as a public joint stock company, Ghadir Investment Company operates in key sectors such as power, oil, gas, petrochemicals and related industries.
With 150,000 people active in industrial, commercial and tourist sectors, Qeshm did not produce its own electricity until 2018. The first power generation project of the island was launched in March 2018. It was a 10-MW solar power unit financed by Italian companies.
The island in Hormozgan Province is now self-sufficient in electricity generation and the surplus electricity generated by the steam unit will be sent to the national power grid to be used in other regions.
A water treatment unit will come on stream as the last part of the project to produce 8,000 cubic meters of desalinated water a day.
Qeshm is the largest island in the Persian Gulf (close to the Omani port of Khasab) where fishing is the main occupation. On its limited cultivated land, dates and melons are grown while salt is mined on the southeastern coast.
The island is famous for its wide range of ecotourism attractions such as the Hara Marine Forests.
According to environmentalists, about 1.5% of the world’s birds and 25% of Iran's native birds migrate to the forests every year, which are the first national geopark of Iran.
Due to Hormozgan’s proximity to the Sea of Oman and Persian Gulf, the province is also active in fisheries, boat and shipbuilding, as well as oil and gas industries.
Hormozgan has abundant mineral resources and its chromite, red soil, lime, gypsum, sulfur and salt mines are well known.
Tower generation capacity in Hormozgan stands at 4,000 MW and 85,000 MW at the national level.
