Boosting gas production will indeed benefit Iran's industrial sector, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Saturday, Shana quoted the Iran Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization as saying.
Reiterating his ministry's plan of action to raise natural gas production, Zanganeh added, "the more gas we produce, the better our industries will thrive."
Pointing to the volume electricity produced in Alghadir Power Plant (APP) in Lamard Energy Industries Special Zone, the minister said after the new power plant comes on stream, its operational efficiency will be 58 percent which is a great achievement as the majority of the power plants now in operation are not efficient and waste substantial volumes of electricity in different areas of supply and distribution.
Power to be generated at the APP "will be 1.7 times over and above other power plants in Iran," the minster was quoted by the news agency as saying.
Calling the aluminum industry to "conserve energy" given its high consumption and wastage, he said "the gas production while helping in the manufacture of aluminum will also be utilized to generate electricity which ultimately is in the interest of the country as it will augment national revenues and help promote welfare of the masses."
The Lamard Special Zone development will support the massive energy development projects in South Pars, he added.
South Pars is the world's largest gas field, shared between Iran and Qatar, covering an area of 3,700 square kilometers of Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf. It adjoins Qatar’s North Field, which measures 6,000 square kilometers.
SP Gas Field has a capacity of producing 820 million cubic meters (mcm) and 1 mcm of gas and gas condensates per day respectively.
Currently South Pars output, standing at 300 mcm/d, accounts for 72 percent of the country's total gas consumption.
Iran’s electricity industry ranks 14th in the world and first in the Middle East in terms of power generation with an installed capacity of 72,000 MW.
The country is the largest exporter and importer of electricity in the Middle East and exports electric power to Armenia, Pakistan, Turkey, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Azerbaijan and Armenia supply electricity to Iran under a swap agreement.
