The first gas-powered unit of Mobarakeh Steel Company’s combined-cycle power plant will be connected to the national grid in March, the head of power projects in the largest steel company of Iran and the wider Middle East and North Africa region said.
“This is the second power station constructed with the investment of industries that will add close to 900 megawatts to the national power grid when it is fully operational,” Hamidreza Khosravanipour was also quoted as saying by Donyayemadan.com.
“As per a deal worth $430 million signed between Iran's biggest steelmaker in Isfahan Province and the engineering MAPNA Group in 2021, the latter was tasked with building the facility in three phases. The first gas unit of the plant with a capacity of 300 MW will go on stream in March,” he said.
“The facility will comprise two gas units and a steam unit with a generation capacity of 300 MW, and it is expected to be fully synchronized with the power grid in 2024.”
Being built on a 12-hectare land in proximity to Kharrazi substation in the steel mill, the new plant will be equipped with MAPNA’s F-Class gas turbines with a high efficiency rate of 59%.
“The plant will help the steel factory become totally independent of the Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company [Tavanir] that is struggling to meet industrial units’ growing electricity demand,” he said.
According to Seyyed Zaman Hosseini, the first power plant financed by industries was connected to the power grid last year.
“The first gas unit of Shahid Bakeri Power Plant in Semnan Province with a capacity of 183 megawatts became operational last summer. The construction of the second and third gas units, each with a capacity of 183 MW, is underway,” he added.
Hosseini noted that a steam unit will also be built so that the plant will become a combined-cycle one.
Usually, one-third of the capacity of combined-cycle power stations is dedicated to steam units, which will be built next to the gas units and no longer require fuel as feedstock.
The engineering and energy giant MAPNA Group signed a deal in 2021 with Mines and Metals Development Investment Company to develop the combined-cycle power plant in Semnan.
The deal stipulates the design, engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning of advanced gas units equipped with MAPNA’s own E-Class MGT-70(3) gas turbines.
Key Role of Industries
Industries can play a key role in boosting electricity output by embarking on power plant development projects, in which case they will no longer be at the mercy of the state-run Tavanir. This will enable them to use their own power generating plants and not be dependent on the national power grid.
In fact, industries account for 40% of Iran’s annual power consumption of 280 billion kilowatt hours.
Mining and manufacturing industries were negatively affected by the power supply crisis last summer, as they were forced to halt operations repeatedly in June and July because the state-run utility company could not produce sufficient electricity.
When heavy industrial customers are equipped with their own power stations, they will not need to stop their business in summer when demand exceeds supply.
If industries complete their power projects, the Energy Ministry guarantees that adequate power will be supplied to factories even during peak demand hours, regardless of households’ consumption level.
All industrial units that consume more than 2 megawatts of electricity per month are charged 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour.
As per the new bill passed by the Majlis last year, electricity tariffs for energy-intensive industries, namely cement factories, oil refineries and petrochemical and steel companies, have increased fivefold since last March.
PV Power Project
Mobarakeh Steel Company has also invested $500 million in a major 600-megawatt photovoltaic (PV) power project in Kouhpayeh County in Isfahan Province.
Kouhpayeh PV Power Station will be the largest of its kind in Iran and is expected to become fully operational in three years.
According to Meysam Latifi, an assistant to the Iranian president and the head of the Organization for Public Administration and Employment Affairs, the first phase of the plan will add close to 100 MW to the national power grid by July.
“The solar farm will be built on 1,200 hectares and is expected to help reduce natural gas consumption by about 350 million cubic meters per year,” he added.
Iran's installed solar power generating capacity is about 450 MW and this initiative alone will add 600 megawatts to the output.
The central Isfahan Province has five solar power stations.
Iran has a diverse climate with vast windy lands and more than 300 sunny days a year, renewable power production is 980 MW, which is a meager share compared to the total 90,000 MW.
With the ongoing projects, renewables’ output is expected to reach 1,100 MW by 2023.
Emphasizing the need for giving a bigger role to private companies in developing the key power industry, Latifi said more than 60% of the electricity are produced by the private sector.
Due to the government’s funding constraints and economic pressures, over the years, private firms have taken the mantle to help develop renewable energy.
Private companies have invested $1 billion in the gradually expanding renewable sector, mainly solar and wind.
