The first power plant constructed with the investment of industries will come on stream by June, a deputy managing director of Iran Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (Tavanir) said.
“The first gas unit of Shahid Bakeri Power Plant in Semnan Province with a capacity of 183 megawatts will be connected to the network by June and the second gas unit will become operational a month later,” the Energy Ministry’s news portal Paven quoted Seyyed Zaman Hosseini as saying.
“In the first phase, the gas units of the power plant will be launched with a total nominal capacity of 366 MW and in the second phase, with the construction of a steam unit, the plant will become a combined-cycle one,” he added.
Last year, the engineering and energy giant MAPNA Group signed a deal with Mines and Metals Development Investment Company to develop the combined-cycle power plant in Semnan.
The deal stipulates design, engineering, procurement, installation and
commissioning of two advanced gas units equipped with MAPNA’s own E-Class
MGT-70(3) gas turbines.
The new plant is built next to Semnan Thermal Power Plant, which comprises two gas units with a capacity of 162 MW each (totaling 324 MW), which was built by MAPNA Group and has been in operation since 2010.
MAPNA is a conglomerate of Iranian companies involved in the development and execution of thermal and renewable power plants, oil and gas facilities, railroads and other industrial projects as well as manufacture of equipment.
MoU Between Ministries
Referring to last year’s agreement between the Energy Ministry and the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade for the construction of power plants by industries, Hosseini, who is also director of Tavanir’s project for the construction of power plants by mining industries, said according to the memorandum of understanding, 10,000 MW of power stations were initially decided to be built by industries, but due to the existing potentials, the figure later increased to 17,000 MW.
“The 17,000 MW include 15,000 MW of combined-cycle power plants and 2,000
MW of renewable stations, which will be constructed in 15 provinces,” he added.
Speaking about the combined-cycle plants, the official said typically one-third of their capacity is dedicated to steam units, which will be built next to the gas units and will not need fuel as feedstock.
Referring to the construction of 2,000-MW renewable power plants, Hosseini said, “These power stations will also be built next to or near thermal power plants to make use of their facilities to connect to the grid.”
Industries can play a key role in boosting electricity output by embarking on power plant development projects, in which case they will no longer be at the mercy of the state-run Tavanir. This way, they will be enabled to use their own power generating plants and not be dependent on the national power grid.
In fact, industries account for 40% of Iran’s annual power consumption of 280 billion kilowatt hours.
Mining and manufacturing industries were negatively affected by the power
supply crisis last summer, as they were forced to halt operations repeatedly in June and July because the state-run utility company could not produce sufficient electricity.
When heavy industrial customers are equipped with their own power stations, they will not need to stop their business in summer when demand exceeds supply.
If industries complete their power projects, the Energy Ministry guarantees that adequate power will be supplied to factories even during peak demand hours, regardless of households’ consumption level.
