Thermal and combined-cycle power plants have been called to make judicious use of the scarce water resources and curb overuse, the deputy production manager of the Iran Power Generation and Transmission Company (Tavanir) said Wednesday.
“Plans are finalized to help promote water conservation at power plants, pursuant to the water crisis that has gripped the country” for extended periods, Abdolrasoul Pishahang was quoted by IRIB as saying.
The first step is to bring in advance technology, whereby wet cooling towers are replaced with dry ones. Dry-cooling systems use air instead of water to cool the steam exiting a turbine. Thus, it can decrease water use at power plants by more than 90 percent.
Although dry cooling results in significant water saving, the capital costs are five times more than re-circulating wet cooling.
Power plants are also required to recycle their used water, Pishahang said. Moreover, wastewater effluent should be used to cool power plants. Pursuant to a Department of Environment (DoE) bylaw which requires all power plants to have green areas, the official said drip irrigation method must be promoted to help save the plummeting water resources.
Macro-planning for water conservation in power plants is expected to be implemented holistically in 10 years.
With an annual precipitation only a third of the global average, heavy overconsumption has ravaged Iran’s scarce water resources. In a 2013 study by the World Resources Institute, Iran was ranked as the world’s 24th most water-stressed nation, putting it at extremely high risk of future water scarcity.
Electric power generation requires reliable access to large volumes of water. Water deficits and constraints could affect future electricity generation technology selection, plant siting, and plant operation.
