Although the conversion of single-cycle power plants (gas-powered) into combined cycles can help significantly raise efficiency, the severity of water shortage in Iran will scuttle such plans, a member of Iran Water Industry Federation, a privately-owned organization, said.
“A combined-cycle facility can generate 5 kilowatt hours of electricity by burning each cubic meters of natural gas, while the same amount of feedstock is burnt to produce a maximum 3 kWh of power in a conventional station,” Ebrahim Raisi was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
Retrofitting gas-powered plants to combined cycles can double the efficacy, but the problem is that combined-cycle facilities require a massive amount of water to keep functioning and most thermal power plants are located in plains from which water extraction is banned, he added.
According to the official, Thermal Power Plants Holding Company has started converting seven single-cycle power plants into combined-cycles, namely the Soltaniyeh Power Plant in Zanjan, Zagros Power Station in the western Kermanshah Province, Persian Gulf Power Plant in Hormozgan Province, Golestan and Semnan power plants in the namesake provinces, Khorramshahr facility in Khuzestan and Shahid Kaveh Power Plant in Khorasan Razavi Province.
“All these plants are situated in areas long suffering from acute water crisis and even if the project is carried out successfully, the Energy Ministry will have to tap into groundwater resources to supply much-needed water in the new facilities that will be a recipe for disaster, as the policy will exacerbate land subsidence in these areas.”
Water paucity has not only affected agribusiness adversely, but also does not allow energy efficiency plans to develop.
Rapidly declining water resources have compelled the government to increase the number of plains from which water withdrawal is banned from 15 in 1968 to 35 at present – up 2,250%, Raisi added.
Appalling Numbers
The number is appalling, as the banned plains account for 95% of the underground water reserves that are being depleted faster than presumed.
Close to 41 billion cubic meters of water are being extracted from authorized wells that must be cut to 27 bcm by 2023.
"Water deficit from underground sources has reached 140 bcm and so no more licenses should be issued to dig wells. Current extraction levels should be reduced by at least 14 bcm per annum,” the official said.
“Under current conditions, issuing new licenses for wells is harming national interest and this means disregarding the future generations' right to water.”
Almost 320,000 illegal wells have been identified and are being sealed gradually while 487,000 water wells are licensed.
Iran registered significant improvement in rainfall in March and April when precipitation in most provinces exceeded the average rate in 50 years. Nonetheless, dams are 69% full, down 20% compared to May.
“Water shortage must be taken seriously by everyone; it’s a national crisis,” he said.
Calling the lack of attention to the crisis by officials and the general public as “worrying”, Raisi said governments usually are loath to declaring a crisis do the repeated warnings about the worsening water shortage should serve as a wake-up call.
The official said no single organization could be blamed for the current crisis simply because multiple factors play a role.
“We are all at fault, so we all have to make a concerted effort to solve the problem,” he added.
Unorganized Urbanization
In addition to natural factors such as climate change, the human impact, including mismanagement, unorganized urbanization and population growth, has long led to water demand outstripping supply in Iran, which is located in one of the world’s most water stressed regions.
According to Abfa data, there are almost half a million authorized wells in Iran, of which 85% are used by farmers. Close to 50,000 belong to industries and the rest for household consumption.
While the mean annual precipitation on Earth is 1,000 mm, it is hardly 230 mm in Iran, which comprises 1.1% of the continental area.
About 90% of the total precipitation are reported in the cold and humid seasons and in northern and western parts of the country, and only 10% in warm and dry seasons and in central, southern and eastern regions.
According to the Energy Ministry, water levels in underground tables have dwindled by at least 100 millimeters over 50 years.
To compensate the dangerous decline, rainfall should be at least 400 millimeters. Iran is located in an arid and semi-arid region. With less than 230 millimeters of rain per year, it is among countries with low precipitation.
