Groundbreaking for 540 MW Power Plant in Zahedan

Deputy Energy Minister Sattar Mahmoudi on Sunday broke ground for a 540 megawatt combined cycle power plant (CCPP) in Zahedan, the provincial capital of Sistan-Baluchestan Province, as part of efforts to boost electricity generation via combined-cycle power stations.

“The plant is estimated to cost €300 million ($327 million) in two gas and steam phases,” Mohebali Ghazzagh-Jahed, executive director of Sistan-Baluchestan Province Electric Power Company, was quoted as saying by IRNA on the sidelines of the ceremony.

A combined-cycle power plant uses both gas and steam turbines to produce up to 50% more electricity from the same fuel than a traditional simple cycle plant. The waste heat from the gas turbine is routed to the nearby steam turbine, which generates extra power. The the Energy Ministry and the Thermal Power Plants Holding Company will oversee the project's development by privately-owned domestic contractor Ofogh Mehr Tous Co.

“The gas unit of the power plant will come online by September 2018 and its steam unit is scheduled to come on stream in November 2019,” Jahed added.

The power plant will create more than 300 jobs in technical and engineering services, he said, stressing that on completion the power station will need 4 million cubic meters of natural gas per day as feedstock.

Mandana Zanganeh, an official in charge of attracting investment in Sistan Baluchestan, said six combined-cycle plants, with a total output of more than 2,700 MW, are being constructed in the southeastern province.

She added that three state-run plants are being built in Chabahar and Iranshahr, each with 160 MW output, as well as a 500 MW plant in Zahedan,

“Three other power plant projects are planned in the province by Turkish energy and construction company Unit International, Parsian Power and Industry Development Co. and Ofogh Mehr Tous Co.

Unit International signed a $4.2 billion agreement with the Energy Ministry last year to build gas power plants in seven regions. The power stations would have a combined installed capacity of 6,020 megawatts.

With installed power production capacity of around 76,000 megawatts, Iran is the biggest producer of electricity in the Middle East. Iran wants to expand power generation capacity by 5,000 MW every year through 2022, the end of its sixth five-year economic development plan.