Iran is a dry and semi-arid country with limited water resources and limited rainfall; however, considering its vast land area, diverse climate, high altitude, vast plains and long coasts, there are numerous windy and sunny areas in the country, which make it a potential hub for harnessing wind and solar power.
Installed green energy capacity has reached 1,000 MW. Currently, 100 large renewable power plants are operating, 42% produce solar energy, 41% wind, 13% hydroelectric, 2% via waste heat and 2% biomass, ISNA reported.
Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian has been quoted as saying that research in the green sector shows Iran has the capacity to produce 30,000 MW of electricity from wind energy per annum.
Vast plains can be turned into wind farms to produce clean energy both for domestic use and export.
Iran has relied primarily on fossil fuel for producing electricity. However, over the past decade it has taken steps to reduce dependency on fossil fuels by investing in renewable energy, especially wind and solar.
Wind energy is among rapidly developing technologies. It is not only the low price but also cost stability that makes wind power attractive for governments and the private sector anxious about the regularly fluctuating global crude oil prices and the instability that follows.
Wind power has made noticeable progress in Iran in recent years. The government has planned to substantially increase wind power output in line with its commitment to help curb greenhouse gases. In 2009 domestic wind power capacity was 130 MW. Today 410 MW of clean energy is produced by the wind farms.
Last August Iran opened its largest wind farm in Tarom county, Qazvin Province with nominal capacity of 60 MW.
The 18-turbine wind farm is estimated to forestall the release of 110,000 tons of greenhouse gases a year, which would be emitted if the same amount of power was produced through a thermal power plant.
