1,400 MW Power Output Capacity Nearing Launch

Three major power plant projects with a combined output capacity of over 1,400 megawatts are slated for launch in the western Kermanshah Province, the energy minister said.

"Darian power plant with a 210-MW output capacity will become operational in two months. Zagros power plant will raise the national power grid capacity by 320 MW in the near future and the 900-MW Dalahou power plant is planned to be launched soon," Hamid Chitchian was also quoted as saying by IRNA.

The minister was on a tour of the region's water and electricity infrastructure on Tuesday.

Darian is a hydroelectric dam in a village of the same name. It is being constructed on Sirvan River and will generate an estimated 500 gigawatt hours of electricity annually. Operational works on the dam commenced in 2008 and it started to store water two years ago, but the facility's electrical infrastructure is yet to be established.

Zagros power station has a total power generation capacity of 648 MW, including four gas units each with a 162-MW capacity. Iran's energy and engineering conglomerate MAPNA Group is the project's contractor.

According to Chitchian, two gas units of Zagros are expected to join the grid.

Dalahou, a combined-cycle power plant, is also being developed by MAPNA.

According to the minister, advanced and highly-efficient F-class gas turbines will be used in the Dalahou project.

The plant was initially scheduled for launch in 2013, but it faced financial and operational constraints.

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 new launches are part of efforts to increase the country's power production capacity that is verging on 77,000 MW. Iran's nominal power generating capacity rose by 385 MW in the previous fiscal year that ended in March and reached 76,947 MW.

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.