Operations are underway to develop eight combined cycle power plants equipped with the highly-efficient indigenized F-class gas turbines across Iran, director of combined cycle projects at the Thermal Power Plants Holding Company said.
“The new gas-powered units will add close to 5,000 megawatts to Iran’s current installed generation capacity that has reached 90 gigawatts,” the Energy Ministry’s news portal Paven also quoted Alireza Nasrollahi as saying.
The construction of F-class gas turbines in combined cycle power plants is on the TPPHC agenda to improve efficiency and reduce electricity waste, he added.
TPPHC has signed a contract with the energy and infrastructure conglomerate MAPNA for the construction of 5,000 MW of thermal power plants by 2024 using the indigenized F-class gas turbines.
F-class turbine consumes less gas and is more eco-friendly. It increases electricity generation in a simple- and combined cycle power plant by 40% and 59% respectively.
Giving a breakdown on the projects, Nasrollahi noted that the gas unit of Dokouheh Combined Cycle Power Plant in Andimeshk County, Khuzestan Province, with a capacity of 307 MW will become operational soon.
“The gas unit has registered 80% progress and is to come on stream by summer,” he added.
The combined cycle power plant, consisting of a gas and steam units, has a total generation capacity of 451 megawatts.
Benefiting from an F-class turbine, the gas unit will help provide reliable and stable electricity in the southwestern province, especially in the hot season.
Hengam Power Plant
Referring to the second plan, Nasrollahi noted that the third gas unit of Hengam Power Plant in Bandar Abbas, southern Hormozgan Province, is under construction.
“When fully operational, the power station will have a generation capacity of 906 MW,” he added, noting that the project is estimated to cost $612 million.
Hengam Power Plant is the first among eight projects that is in service. On completion, the plant will supply electricity to 150,000 homes in the southern province off the Persian Gulf.
F-class gas turbines are defined by high performance, low power generation costs, long intervals between inspections and a service-friendly design.
Optimized flow and cooling add up to high efficiency and economically viable power generation in combined cycle applications.
Hengam Power Plant will have an efficiency rate of 59%, which is the highest for a plant with F-class turbines.
Average efficiency of domestic power plants is around 37%.
Effective steps have been taken to convert conventional plants into combined cycle units to improve efficiency and reduce pollution and costs.
Nasrollahi said the construction of a steam unit at the Sahand combined cycle power station in East Azarbaijan Province has registered a work-in-progress rate of 45% and is expected to be linked with the national power grid next summer.
Steam Unit
The facility, located in Bonab County, has a gas unit with a capacity of 300 megawatts and the under-construction steam unit will add 140 MW to its total capacity, the official said.
In gas power plants, heat from gas units is released from the exhaust of units with a temperature of 540-600 degrees centigrade which, in addition to wasting energy, increases the emission of greenhouse gases. Transferring heat to the steam sector will help the environment and generate electrical energy.
Operations are also underway to develop Veis combined cycle power station in Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province.
Iran’s installed power generation capacity has reached 90 gigawatts, of which 73,000 MW are produced in thermal power plants and the rest is generated by hydroelectric, renewable, nuclear and cogeneration units.
“With the synchronization of 20 gas and steam units in thermal power plants with the national grid over the last five years, the capacity of Iran's thermal power plants has surpassed 73,000 megawatts.”
The gas units of Butia Iranian Steel Company’s Combined Cycle Power Plant in southern Kerman Province, Hengam Power Plant in Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan Province, Pasargad Power Station on Qeshm Island and Mianroud in Dezful, Khuzestan Province, Aryan Power Plant in Zanjan Province, Mahtab Kavir Power Plant in Zarand County, Kerman Province, and Iran LNG Power Plant in Kangan County, Bushehr Province, have become operational during the five-year period to add 2,500 MW to the network.
