Power plants in Iran have received 20% more liquid fuel so far this year (started March 2022) compared with the same period of last year, the head of the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company, a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company, said.
“The rise is due to increasing natural gas consumption in the domestic sector, which has cut gas supply to power stations and compelled them to burn liquid fuel such as diesel and mazut,” Ali Akbar Nejad-Ali was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
“On average, 2,000 tanker trucks provide fuel for power plants per day, which is a very large figure,” he said, adding that due to the increasing liquid fuel consumption, transportation becomes more complicated and in addition to road hazards and environmental pollution, it imposes a huge cost on the country.
With the onset of winter and higher home gas consumption, gas supply to a number of power plants has been disrupted as priority has shifted to households.
The main reason for using liquid fuel in power stations is higher gas demand in households and industries. As there is an annual growth of 6% in gas consumption in the household sector and 5% in the industrial sector, there is normally inadequate gas for all power plants during the cold season and a number of them are obliged to use diesel and mazut.
The National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company has taken measures to supply power stations with sufficient liquid fuel so that they can continue their operation.
However, over the years, the use of diesel and mazut in winter, along with temperature inversion, has had a serious negative impact on air pollution.
Mazut is a heavy, low quality fuel oil used as an alternative to run thermal power plants and factories. It is not suitable for power plants because it doubles maintenance costs, increases water consumption and decreases output.
Most thermal power plants run on natural gas, as liquefied fuels have long-term adverse effects. The use of diesel and mazut in power plants and other industries increases greenhouse gas emissions.
As more liquid fuel is burnt, higher volumes of toxic fumes are released into the atmosphere, making a bad pollution worse.
Natural gas comprises more than 83% of fuel for power plants in Iran, while the figure is 23% worldwide.
