The gas-to-wire project, which was reportedly halted last year by the Energy Ministry, is high on the Oil Ministry's agenda, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Exports Company said on Monday.
"Preliminary agreements have been reached between NIGEC and four Iranian companies to use gas for generating electricity and exporting it," Alireza Kameli was quoted as saying by Tasnim News Agency.
Gas-to-Wire, which means onsite power generation by using gas, is a new development concept used in gas fields with a reserve between 1 and 30 trillion cubic feet. Because of no need for transportation of the produced gas, GTW is considered a highly efficient system in terms of economic and environmental perspectives.
GTW was first initiated in Qeshm Island in southern Iran. Forouz B gas field, whose proven reserve amounts to 28 tcf, was selected as the first gas field to export Iranian gas after being converted via this system.
In 2012, a contract was signed between Iranian Continental Shelf Company (Falat-Ghare Oil Co.) and MAPNA Group to develop Forouz B and convert the produced gas to electricity. The field's master development plan and drilling appraisal wells were due to be completed in 2013.
Based on the schedule, production wells should have been drilled in 2013 and the extracted gas was planned to be delivered to a Qeshm power plant to be converted to electricity and exported to the target markets.
Regarding the development of the project, Deputy Energy Minister Houshang Falahatian told the news agency in Sept. 2014: "Construction of Qeshm Power Plant has neither stopped nor developed slowly. Yet, the power plants' activities are reported wrongly in the media."
According to Falahatian, not only does Qeshm power plant generate electricity, but it also desalinates water by using natural gas as feedstock. Exporting electricity through land and water borders is the Energy Ministry's strategy. Nonetheless, the electricity produced in Qeshm will be injected into the national grid. In case there is surplus production, officials will decide about export.
According to a report released by Tasnim News Agency last year, the GTW project came to a halt. Nevertheless, as the Oil Ministry entered electricity export negotiations, it has made GTW a priority.
The gas-to-wire option, often known as gas-to-power, involves the conversion of natural gas to electrical power and transmission of this power to consumers. The most common method to generate power from natural gas uses gas turbine generators, either in simple-cycle or combined-cycle configurations.
