Deputy Energy Minister Houshang Falahatian on Wednesday broke ground on a 451-megawatt combined-cycle power plant in the city of Andimeshk, Khuzestan Province, as part of efforts to boost electricity generation.
The plant is estimated to cost €250 million ($284 million) in two gas and steam phases, Mehr News Agency reported.
The power plant project will be developed as part of a memorandum of understanding between the Thermal Power Plants Holding Company and MAPNA Group to develop combined-cycle plants with a total capacity of 5,000 MW.
As per the MoU, the power plants, which will employ cutting-edge gas turbines with high efficiency, require $2.5 billion in investment.
A combined-cycle power plant produces 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 gas unit of CCPP in Andimeshk, which is slated to go on stream in the fiscal 2019-20, is planned to produce 307 MW of power, while the steam unit will have a power generation capacity of 144 MW.
The power plant is to use the cutting-edge F-class gas turbines that have an efficiency rate of over 58%.
Iran has turned to German energy giant Siemens to get up to speed with modern turbine manufacturing technologies. Siemens signed an agreement in 2016 with MAPNA to help modernize Iran's energy infrastructure.
According to reports, MAPNA will acquire know-how to manufacture Siemens' F-class gas turbines in Iran and the parties would cooperate to deliver more than 20 gas turbines and associated generators over the next decade.
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