2 Solar Plants for Yazd

The government has given license for construction of two solar power plants in the city of Mehriz in Yazd Province, a local official said on Sunday.

“Construction of one of the photovoltaic power stations, with production capacity of 10 megawatts, will commence in a few weeks,” Mohammad Hassan Sabaqzadegan, managing director of Yazd Regional Electricity Company, was quoted as saying by ISNA.

Mehriz has 37,000 power subscribers, according to the official.

Referring to the province’s “reasonable” power consumption in comparison to the national average, Sabaqzadegan noted, “The number of blackouts in Yazd Province is one tenth of other provinces.”

Among efforts to improve electricity supply in the sun-drenched region, a 63/20 kilovolt substation was recently upgraded to 400/63 kV. A substation is a facility that reduces the high voltage of power transmission to suitable voltage for supply to consumers.

The hot and dry climate in Yazd is ideal for harvesting solar energy. The city, 630 km southeast of Tehran, is situated between two deserts of Dasht-e-Kavir and Dasht-e-Loot, the latter known as one of the hottest places on earth.

Iran is keen on developing renewable energy and diversify its energy mix that heavily relies on fossil fuels for power generation.

Total installed electricity production capacity from renewables, including solar and wind, amounts to 240 MW, a trivial amount that makes up barely 0.3% of the  total power capacity. Nearly 80% of Iran's electricity supply, which is 76,000 MW, comes from thermal power plants that feed on fossil fuels. Studies show that renewable investments in Iran is and will be profitable.

Environmentalists and experts have often criticized government's insufficient efforts to promote renewable energy in Yazd, given the region's huge potential for producing power from sunlight.