The National Iranian Gas Company has boosted gas delivery to power plants in the past seven months to help curb air pollution and reduce the consumption of polluting fuels such as diesel and mazut, NIGC managing director said.
Nasser Ebrahimi added that around 41.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas were supplied to power plants nationwide in March-October, 5.6 bcm more than the same period of last year, Shana reported.
On average, 189 million cubic meters of gas per day were supplied to power plants during the period, saving the same amount in mazut and diesel consumption. Daily gas supply to heavy industries also stood at 93 mcm.
Following the launch of several phases of South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf last year and increase in natural gas output, gas replaced mazut and diesel as feedstock in some refineries and power plants, making room for the export of surplus products.
In addition, the government has instructed power plants to use gas instead of more polluting feedstock due to abundance of gas resources in Iran.
Raising gas supply to power plants is a move in the right direction to curb the country’s worsening air pollution, but it is far from adequate.
According to reports, the Iranian capital Tehran–host to millions of gas-guzzlers—saw 85 “unhealthy” days last year with three days registered as “very unhealthy and risky”.
