Saving water, creating sustainable jobs, curbing air pollution and minimizing fossil fuel consumption are the most important economic and environmental advantages of harnessing renewable energies.
Akbar Adibfar, an official at MAPNA Group, an energy and engineering conglomerate, made the statement while addressing a panel on "Renewable Energy: Opportunities and Challenges" at the Fifth International Conference and Exhibition on Solar Energy held in Tehran University on August 18-21(ICESE-2018), IRNA reported.
"Unlike thermal and combined-cycle power plants, renewable stations use much less water," he said, stressing that the country's solar and wind power plants save as much as 250,000 cubic meters of water daily.
Close to 1.8 billion kilowatt hours of electricity have been generated in the country from renewable sources since June 2009.
According to state-owned Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization, aka Satba, this electricity has helped the country save 412 million liters of water in the past nine years, of which 13 million liters were saved between Nov. 22 and Dec. 21, 2017.
Referring to the completion of Kohak Wind Farm expansion program near Kohak Village in Takestan, Qazvin Province, Adibfar noted that the venture has helped save 90 million liters of diesel since 2017, which is equivalent to the production of 250,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
"In order to absorb this amount of carbon dioxide, more than 50 million trees should be planted," he added.
According to Satba, between Nov. 22 and Dec. 21, 2017, the country curbed its greenhouse emissions by 41,000 tons. The electricity generated since 2009 has helped the country save as much as 531 million cubic meters of fossil fuels, which are the main cause of air pollution.
Adibfar noted that rising investment in renewable energy sector has the potential to provide more jobs in underprivileged regions than any other fossil fuel industry.
"Local renewable industries will benefit from this change, as their income will also increase significantly," he said.
Energy experts believe that most of the fossil fuel jobs in extraction or other supportive activities have been declining since 2012 when gas and oil industry reached their peak.
"The benefits of shifting to renewable energy are clear-cut and for this reason the governments should react positively toward the transition to clean energy," Adibfar said.
Highlighting challenges facing the sector, Mohammad Ebrahim Raeesi, a private sector energy expert, opines that preparing the infrastructure and attracting investment play the most important role in developing the fledgling industry.
"As long as a proper and secure investment and business environment is not created, no one will be attracted to fund such initiatives," he said.
Raeesi further said current fluctuations in foreign exchange rates in the country pose problems for investors and the progress rate of some projects has declined.
Turbine Transformer
According to MAPNA's news portal, the group has manufactured a 2-megawatt wind turbine transformer, which will be operated in Abhar, Zanjan Province.
Abbas Bahri, the project's manager, noted that using such turbines will help reduce the emission of up to 3,600 tons of greenhouse gases per year and will help save hydrocarbon fuels burnt in traditional power plants. According to the official, the achievement can bear multiple advantages such as providing large amounts of electricity, cleanly and reliably, at competitive prices.
ICESE-2018 is aimed at providing a platform to gather scientists and industrialists to exchange technical information and new developments in solar energy sector for shaping the future direction and priorities for a better environment and sustainable development.
Iran intends to increase the share of renewable electricity in its energy mix, partly due to air pollution and to meet international commitments, hoping to have about 5 gigawatts of renewables installed by 2022.
The lion's share of power in the country is produced with the help of fossil fuel-based power plants. The share of renewables in Iran’s energy mix is as low as 612 MW, although it has huge potentials to harness renewable energies, including geothermal, solar and wind power.
