The construction of a thermal power plant near Zahedan, Sistan-Baluchestan Province, will start soon, director of gas power plants project at Thermal Power Plants Holding Company said.
“Located 10 kilometers from Zahedan, the provincial capital, the plant will have a nominal capacity of 484 megawatts,” Bargh News also quoted Mahmoud Sadeqi as saying.
As per the contract signed between the power plant and the provincial gas company, the latter will provide the power station with natural gas feedstock, he added.
Sadeqi noted that a gas transmission line should be built to deliver the gas to the plant from the main pipeline supplying the province.
The main gas pipeline in the province is an extension of the Iran Gas Trunkline 7 that extends from Asalouyeh in Bushehr Province, which pumps gas from the major South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf.
IGAT7 interconnects east of Asalouyeh to Hormozgan Province and Sarkhoon Refinery, and transfers natural gas produced to Hormozgan, Sistan-Baluchestan and Kerman provinces.
The new power plant project also includes the construction of a substation and related infrastructure, installation of generators and transformers, as well as the establishment of a water pipeline to the power plant.
Speaking about water conditions in the province, managing director of the provincial Water and Wastewater Company said, “Water required by 38% of the population in the southeastern province is supplied from surface water resources, 48% from groundwater sources and 14% by desalination plants.”
Regarding the drought and decline in precipitation, he said the province receives less than 65 mm of rain per year.
“Most of the water supply in the northern and central regions of the province depends on the Helmand (Hirmand) River and the rest is provided by groundwater resources. Coastal cities and nearby regions use desalinated water of the Sea of Oman,” Alireza Qasemi was quoted as saying by IRNA.
The provincial company covers over 50 cities and close to 6,000 villages in the underdeveloped province and plans are underway to supply water to another 350 villages.
However, the official stressed that the province has encountered many challenges regarding water supply, including heavy dependence on border waters, reduction in precipitation and long-term drought which, in addition to a sharp decline in groundwater resources, has reduced the quantity and quality of water resources in the province.
