Construction of a 100 kilowatt solar power plant has started in Qom Province, managing director of Qom Water and Wastewater Company said.
“Built on a 1,500-square meter land, the project will cost $60,000,” Ali Jan Sadeqpour said, adding that domestically made panels will be used in the construction of the plant in line with the national policy to support domestic industries and create jobs, ISNA reported.
Sadeqpour said when the plant comes on stream, in about a year, it can annually generate 176,000 kw/h of electricity and help prevent emission of 9300 tons of carbon dioxide per year -- which would be produced if the same amount of energy was generated by a thermal power plant.
Located on the fringes of the central desert in Iran and having a dry climate, Qom has high potential to expand its photovoltaic power output.
Last month the largest solar power plant in the key religious province, with a capacity of 10 megawatts, was inaugurated. It is the third of its kind equipped with a solar tracking system to help save energy.
According to reports, the plant produces 500 mw/h of renewable energy in a month.
The Energy Ministry has plans to expand renewable energy and construction of several renewable power stations is underway in different parts of the country.
Installed electricity output capacity in Iran is 79,000 MW. A large part is produced by fossil fuel-based power plants. Renewable power capacity is 650MW.
Experts believe that the shift to solar from fossil fuel electricity generation can help save water, safeguard the environment and ensure sustainable supplies. To this end, the government has mobilized its resources to increase the share of renewables.
Since 2009, Iran has generated over 2.2 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity, saving 494 million liters of water. Thermal power plants require high volumes of water – a resource difficult to come by as Iran has long been grappling with a water crisis that has gotten worse over the years.
Renewable output has also contributed to the protection of the environment and prevented emission of 1.54 million tons of greenhouse gases into the environment.
