The second steam unit of Urmia Power Plant in West Azarbaijan Province was connected to the national power grid on Tuesday, Thermal Power Plants Holding Company’s director for planning said.
“The first steam unit of the plant became operational last year and the third unit is expected to come on stream in 2022,” the Energy Ministry’s news portal also quoted Hamidreza Azimi as saying.
With a capacity of 160 megawatts, the unit was completed at an estimated cost of $150 million and boosted the station’s efficiency by 20%, he added.
According to the official, the steam unit is equipped with an E-class turbine designed and installed by MAPNA, the engineering and energy giant, and uses air-cooled condensers that do not require a large volume of cooling water.
“Now that the second unit is operational, the generation capacity of the complex has risen by 480 MW. The two steam units are expected to reduce natural gas consumption in the facility by 1 billion cubic meters per year,” he said.
“The sustainable supply of electricity to the national grid, lower environmental pollution and higher efficiency of electricity generation are among the main features of the project.”
Built in 2009, Urmia Power Plant already has six gas units with a total production capacity of 954 MW. It delivers power to consumers through a network that includes a 230-KV substation.
Mohammadi said electricity generation of the plant has reached 1,434 MW and its efficiency has increased from 32% to 49%.
There are many gas-fired power plants in Iran with a capacity of more than 20,000 MW and an efficiency of 32%.
The construction of steam units near gas turbines and the conversion of conventional power stations into combined-cycle power will increase efficiency to nearly 45%.
A combined-cycle power plant is more eco-friendly than conventional power stations, as they emit less greenhouse gases.
Energy from a thermal plant not used for power production is released into the environment in the form of heat.
