To curb the burning of mazut, an eco-unfriendly fuel, in Larestan Cement Factory in Fars Province, the complex was connected to the national gas grid on Sunday, managing director of Iran Gas Engineering and Development Company said.
“The plan, which entailed laying a 35-km 8-inch pipeline, is expected to supply the plant with 20 million cubic meters of gas annually,” Reza Noshadi was also quoted as saying by Energy Today website.
Thanks to the pipeline, burning mazut in the plant will be cut by 25 million liters per annum, he added.
The official noted that the scheme will help the industrial unit save at least $15 million, as natural gas is cheaper than liquefied fuel.
“The National Iranian Gas Company is making concerted efforts to increase the volume of natural gas as feedstock to industries. Power plants and other major fuel consuming industries have dramatically cut down on consumption of liquid fuel, especially mazut and diesel, over the past five years," he said, adding that the more industries run on natural gas, the more revenues are earned, as the liquefied fuel can be exported.
Pointing to the environmental effects of using gas, Noshadi said mazut accounted for 45% of power plant feedstock in 2013, but it declined to 5% in 2020 and is on its way to reach zero by the yearend, which will have a profound effect on curbing air pollution.
The government has instructed power plants and refineries to use gas instead of polluting feedstock such as mazut due to the abundance of gas reserves and the rise in South Pars Gas Field output, the world's largest gas field, shared between Iran and Qatar.
The field holds an estimated 14 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, or roughly 8% of the world’s reserves and approximately 19 billion barrels of condensate in Iran's territory.
The latest published data show that Iran is now drawing more than 750 mcm/d of gas from South Pars. The volume is expected to reach 1.1 billion cubic meters by March 2023, as a new phase (Phase 11) is gradually coming on stream.
“The daily average of natural gas consumed in different industries, namely cement, steel and petrochemical, stands at 25, 25 and 100 mcm respectively,” he said, noting that NIGC delivers close to 250 mcm of gas to power stations per day.
