About 4.3 billion liters of liquid fuel have been stored in the storage tanks of power plants across the country for meeting the peak demand of electricity consumption in the summer, as well as in the winter when lack of gas supply to power stations is likely, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company said.
“Diesel comprises about 2.6 billion liters of reserves and the rest is mazut. The total amount indicates that over 80% of the power plants’ storage tanks are full,” Jalil Salari was also quoted as saying by ISNA.
“The storage of liquid fuel required by power plants in the first quarter of the current Iranian year [March 21-June 21] shows a 100% increase compared with the same period of last year,” he added.
Gas demand in households and industries is predicted to rise in winter, meaning power plants will have to burn liquefied fuel to keep generating power.
Natural gas supply to power plants was cut in the previous winters due to a rise in home gas consumption, and more mazut and diesel were used for electricity generation in the power stations. Therefore, the supply of liquefied fuels to thermal power plants is underway so that no power cuts take place in the cold season.
The Energy Ministry is collaborating with the Oil Ministry to fill the fuel storage tanks of power plants so that they can fully operate and generate electricity in summer and winter.
As there is an annual growth of 6% in household gas consumption 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.
Oil Byproducts
Oil byproducts and derivatives are delivered to power plants and industries by tankers as well as pipeline.
The length of pipelines to transfer oil byproducts exceeds 14,000 kilometers, accounting for 36% of the total transfer of oil byproducts.
Repair and renovation of pipelines are carried out on a regular basis for the sustainable delivery of crude oil and byproducts.
Five new pipelines are about to become operational, namely Nain-Kashan-Rey, Bandar Abbas-Rafsanjan, Tabriz-Khoy-Urmia, Shahzand (in Arak, Markazi Province)-Rey and Ahvaz-Rey pipelines.
The construction of new pipelines to transfer petroleum products tops the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company’s agenda, as this approach has priority over other means of supply such as tanker trucks.
Although sometimes inevitable, the use of diesel and mazut in power plants over the years has 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 stations 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.
