Three major projects, including a petrochemical plant and a dam, were officially inaugurated on Monday in Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad Province in the presence of President Ebrahim Raisi.
Gachsaran Petrochemical Complex with an annual production capacity of 1 million tons of ethylene and 84,000 tons of C3+ was launched, the Oil Ministry’s news service Shana reported.
The petrochemical complex has been completed with an investment of $1.46 billion.
Receiving 1.25 million tons of ethane from the Persian Gulf Bidboland Gas Refining Company through a 90-km pipeline, the plant produces ethylene and C3+ which, in addition to generating income, feed complexes located on the route of the West Ethylene Pipeline, as well as several petrochemical plants.
Located on 157 hectares, Gachsaran Petrochemical Complex receives 12 million cubic meters of water from the Kowsar Dam annually. It receives 54,000 cubic meters per hour of gas and 50 megawatts of electricity from the national networks.
The design, construction and installation of important equipment required by the complex have been carried out by more than 70 Iranian manufacturers and knowledge-based companies. More than 83% of the equipment of the project were manufactured domestically.
Gachsaran Petrochemical Company will play an important link in the value chain to turn associated petroleum gases to polymer products.
Ethylene is a colorless gas produced on an industrial level using the steam-cracking process of ethane and naphtha. It is flammable in nature and commonly used as feedstock by chemical manufacturers to produce polyethylene, ethylene oxide, ethylene dichloride and ethylene benzene.
The gas is also used for ripening fruits on a bulk level. Additionally, ethylene is used as a refrigerant and a fuel gas in welding and cutting processes.
The global ethylene market reached approximately 150 million tons in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.09% and reach about 260 million until 2035.
The primary driver of the global ethylene market is the synthesis of polyethylene. In 2021, approximately 54% of global ethylene were utilized by the polyethylene industry. Various industries employ polyethylene due to its flexibility, durability, lightweight nature and resistance to moisture.
Chamshir Dam
Chamshir Dam and the first unit of its hydropower plant were also launched on Monday.
The dam, with a storage capacity of 2.3 billion cubic meters, has been completed for $300 million.
The hydropower plant has three large units, each with a capacity of 55 MW and two small units with a capacity of 5.5 MW each, totaling 176 MW. The power plant can produce 482 gigawatt hours of electrical energy annually.
It is the largest roller-compacted concrete dam in the Middle East. A roller-compacted concrete dam has time and cost benefits over conventional concrete dams, as the former includes lower material costs associated with post-cooling and formwork.
RCC is a special blend of concrete that has the same ingredients as conventional concrete but in different ratios. It is a mix of cement/fly ash, water, sand, aggregate and common additives, but contains much less water.
Located 25 km southeast of Dogonbadan City on Zohreh River, Chamshir Dam will supply water to household, agricultural and industrial sectors. Its water will irrigate 140,000 hectares of agricultural lands in Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad, Khuzestan and Bushehr provinces.
Since the beginning of the construction phase of the dam, there have been criticisms about its potentially adverse environmental impacts. However, the Department of Environment in Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad recently announced that the dam would not cause any environmental problems and rumors in this regard had no scientific basis.
Creating jobs, developing the infrastructure of tourism industry and promoting fish farming are among other important advantages of the dam, which can also help control floodwaters in the region.
Mokhtar Gas Storage Facility
In addition to these projects, executive operations for the expansion of Mokhtar Gas Field and the construction of the first phase of a gas storage facility in the field located in Yasouj were also started on Monday to redress the imbalance between natural gas supply and demand in winter.
As per the plan, the project will be implemented in two phases and with the development of the gas field, 10 million cubic meters will be added to the gas production capacity of the country.
The development program entails drilling 10 wells, building a refinery and gas injection facility and its dehumidification unit so that the gas from the reservoir will be injected into the national gas grid.
With the implementation of this plan, more than 2,000 local experts will be employed for three years. The project is estimated to cost €470 million.
The state-run Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company, a subsidiary of the National Iranian Gas Company, is responsible for implementing the project.
The gas facility will help store 5 million cubic meters per day between April and October when consumption plummets. IGEDC will be able to extract close to 10 mcm/d of gas from November until March when consumption experiences an upward trend.
The facility is expected to create jobs for at least 500 people in the underdeveloped region.
Mokhtar Gas Field was discovered three decades ago, but its development had been postponed due to financial constraints.
In addition to the Mokhtar facility, the firm is implementing six similar plans nationwide and their completion over the next three years will increase NIGC’s gas storage capacity by 250 million cubic meters, accounting for 25% of Iran’s daily output.
The Shourijeh facility in the northeastern Khorasan Razavi Province, Sarajeh reservoir near the city of Qom, Kashan salt dome in Isfahan Province, Varamin Yortesha water storage facility near Tehran, Bankol Gas Field in Ilam Province and Qezeltappeh Gas Field in Golestan Province are being developed with the help of domestic contractors.
The total capacity of Shourijeh facility, which currently stands at 2.25 billion cubic meters per day, is planned to reach 4.5 bcm per day.
To supply gas in northern and northeastern parts in the cold seasons when consumption rises and production declines in the Mozdouran reservoir by 2025, the development project has been planned to increase the capacity of Shourijeh facility, which is the main feedstock supplier of Khangiran Refinery in Sarakhs County, Khorasan Razavi Province.
The project includes drilling 28 production/injection wells, constructing wellhead facilities and pipelines, building a gas collection and distribution center, establishing gas injection facilities with a capacity of 20 million cubic meters per day and setting up refinery facilities for gas processing with a capacity of 10 mcm per day.
IGEDC is also conducting feasibility studies to build new reservoirs in other areas, namely Babaqir Gas Field in Ilam Province, Viznehar and Haloush gas fields in Lorestan Province, Nader hydrocarbon reservoir in Bushehr Province and Sarkhoun Gas Field in Hormozgan Province.
Most oil reservoirs are not suitable for storing gas and this explains why research on other reserves, whose geological formations are made up of salt and water, is on the IGEDC agenda.
