Close to 13,000 megawatts of electricity generation capacity has been added to the national grid with the help of private companies over the past decade, director of private power plant projects in the Thermal Power Plants Holding Company said
"Private firms have funded 30% of the ventures and the rest was financed by domestic financial institutions, namely the National Development Fund of Iran," Mehdi Khabaz-Pisheh was quoted by ISNA as saying.
Installed power generation capacity now is 79,000 MW and will soon increase by 240 MW.
Referring to the Behbahan Combined-Cycle Power Plant in Khuzestan Province, which is expected to go on stream today, he said the new plant that includes two steam units, will not only increase efficiency by 15.5% but also raise output to 492 MW. The plant will increase national grid capacity by 160 MW.
The gas units of the plant with a combined capacity of 332 MW were synchronized with the national grid in 2017.
Construction of the Behbahan plant cost €290 million, of which €230 million was provided by the NDF.
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.
Iran's major engineering and energy enterprise MAPNA Group and Ghadir Investment Company, one of the largest domestic investment companies, joined hands to complete the steam units of the plant, the TPPHC official said.
The power station's efficiency which was 34% has risen to 49.5%, he said.
New Plant in Maku
Regarding plants to become operational soon, he said two gas units in the Maku Combined-Cycle Power Plant in the eponymous free trade zone in West Azarbaijan Province will start production next week.
The plan was built at a cost of €40 million."
According to Khabaz-Pisheh, the initial phase, which adds 80MW to the national grid, is aimed at supplying six northwestern cities, namely Khoy, Qarah Zia-od-Din, Poldasht, Showt, Maku and Chaldoran.
With an estimated €135 million in new investment, output from the plant will increase up to 200 MW by 2020 and 300 MW a year later, he said.
The project is under construction in four phases covering 40,000 square meters. The plant is being built by the International Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and domestic contractors.
Based on an agreement signed in 2015 between Maku Free Trade Zone and AVIC, the Chinese company has a 70% stake in the plant.
The gradual synchronization of the four phases will add 1,600 MW of electricity to the national grid and help augment power supply stability in northwest Maku.
