Economy Minister Ehsan Khandouzi on Saturday broke ground for a photovoltaic cell and panel manufacturing plant in Mahan County, Kerman Province.
The initiative will be completed by the private sector, Nooran Investment Group, in eight months, IRNA quoted the minister as saying.
“The construction of the plant is estimated to cost $1 billion, which will be funded by Bank Melli Iran, the country's biggest bank.”
According to the official, the southern province is in dire need of electricity and frequent power outages have taken a heavy toll not only on the agro sector but also on mining industry.
Kerman is a silica-rich region and the abundance of silica mines in the area can help accelerate the process of manufacturing PV cells.
Energy demand is expected to increase considerably in the coming years, particularly in developing countries as a result of population growth, economic development and rapid urbanization.
This has necessitated a shift away from traditional fossil fuels to alternative renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power.
Khandouzi noted that renewable energy is the most cost-effective compared to all other traditional sources of power generation.
The cost of producing each kilowatt hour of electricity from fossil fuel is 30 cents, whereas generating the same from green sources costs three times less.
Located in the southeast, Kerman is among the largest provinces in Iran. Having a dry climate, it has sufficient solar radiation, and many solar farms and rooftop photovoltaic systems have been installed there in recent years.
A total of 1,266 rooftop-mounted systems are already functioning in the province, with a total capacity of 10,228 kilowatts.
“Solar photovoltaic capacity in the parched Kerman Province has surpassed 70 MW,” he added.
Fossil Fuel Consumption
Based on a report by the Energy Ministry, over 3.9 billion kilowatt hours of electricity have been generated from alternative energy sources in the past 12 years, reducing water and fossil fuel consumption.
This volume of clean energy was produced from June 2009 to the present. It helped cut 2.16 million tons of greenhouse gases and 889 million cubic meters of natural gas. It also saved 689 million liters of water.
Currently, 103 plants generate renewable energy and another 42, with a total capacity of 416 MW, are under construction.
Iran has grappled with a worsening drought and increasing temperatures over the last decade and Kerman has not been spared. But officials see a huge potential to harness the hot and dry weather for power generation.
The cost of generating power from non-fossil fuels is bound to decline further in the near future, given technological breakthroughs and increasing investments.
The cost of renewable energy is now falling so fast that it should be a consistently cheaper source of electricity generation than traditional fossil fuels within just a few years, according to a new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
The organization, which has more than 150 member countries, says the cost of generating power from onshore wind has fallen by around 23% since 2010 while the cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity has fallen by 73% in that time.
With further price falls expected for these and other green energy options, IRENA says all renewable energy technologies should be competitive on price with fossil fuels by 2023.
Center-Stage
The International Energy Agency believes that renewables will play “starring roles”, and solar will take “center-stage”, driven by supportive government policies and declining costs.
“I see solar becoming the new king of the world’s electricity markets,” said Fatih Birol, IEA’s executive director. “Based on today’s policy settings, it is on track to set new records for deployment every year after 2022.”
Khandouzi said investment so far in renewables has surpassed $1 billion.
Creating jobs in remote rural areas, curbing immigration, saving water, reducing power wastage and cutting carbon emissions are among the most significant advantages of green energy.
An estimated 1,500 small and 50 industrial renewable power plants have been built across the country over the past three years.
Renewables account for 980 megawatts of total installed power capacity that is currently 86 gigawatts.
Established in 1986, Nooran Investment Group is willing to follow global trends in the solar sector and is in constant contact with pioneering institutes in this regard.
The main core of this group’s activity includes production and trade of power generation equipment, investment, design and engineering, supply of equipment, construction and operation of solar power plants.
The company consists of two groups, namely Dynamic Silicon Industry Innovators and Kavir Kish Green Energy Industries.
