Close to 85% of equipment used in solar power plants has been indigenized and renewable stations continue to function normally despite the new US sanctions, a deputy energy minister said Monday.
According to the Energy Ministry news website Shana, Seyed Mohammad Sadeqzadeh, head of the ministry’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization (SATBA), said the number of solar panels installed by electricity subscribers on rooftops has also grown.
“The capacity of small-scale power stations producing renewable energy has reached 10 MW and a good number of such stations come on stream every month,” he said.
Solar power is becoming an increasingly important part of the planet's energy mix. In Iran, the government has been offering incentives to shore up solar energy generation from large-scale photovoltaic stations to solar panels on rooftops to expedite the shift from fossil fuels to renewables.
Installed electricity output capacity in Iran is 79,000 MW. A large part of power is produced by fossil fuel-based power plants. As such, renewable power production capacity is 600MW and more renewable power plants that’s should add 500MW to the overall output are under construction across the country.
“Almost 85% of the equipment used in renewable plants is produced inside the country. US sanctions cannot stop expansion of our solar power plants because parts required for such units is produced by domestic companies,” Sadeqzadeh stressed.
“The remaining 15% covers electronic parts that are produced in many countries. Three knowledge-based companies in Mashhad, Tehran and Shiraz are in the process of designing and manufacturing the electronic parts. We have no problem with imports despite the new US restrictions (took effect Nov. 5).”
With more than 300 sunny days throughout the year, Iran has huge potential to expand its solar energy production and attract investments.
And estimated 1,500 small and 50 industrial renewable power plants have been built across the country over the past two years.
Wind, solar, hydropower, waste heat recovery and biomass plants account for 45%, 35%, 16%, 2% and 2% of the total renewable electricity respectively.
Using solar power is an important stepping stone in Iran's clean energy program to raise renewable capacity to 5,000 MW by 2022.
Regarding biomass power plants, the Energy Ministry official said, “There are seven biomass power plants in service and their combined production is 13 MW. One plant in northern Mazandaran Province with a capacity of four megawatts is under construction.”
