In the wake of torrential rains in northern Mazandaran Province over the past four weeks, the biggest dam in the region -- Shahid Rajaee Dam -- is expected to overflow as a result of which the dam's hydroelectric capacity would double, operator of the dam said Tuesday.
"The dam, located 40 kilometers south of the provincial capital Sari, has four power stations which were operational for three months last year. But they will work for six months in the current fiscal that started on March 21," Hassan Norouz-Mohammadi was quoted as saying by IRNA.
The four power plants produced 30,000 megawatt hours of electricity last year. The figure will reach at least 60,000 MWh in 2019, supplying power to 60,000 subscribers in the area.
Shahid Rajaee Dam's reservoir has a capacity of 220 million cubic meters, of which two-thirds or 165 mcm is full and that is why the floodgates were opened after six years.
"One-third of the dam should be kept empty as more precipitation is forecast in the coming weeks," he added.
With higher water levels in hydroelectric dams all over the country, hydropower plants are expected to generate 5,000 MW more electricity, almost double compared to last year when the figure barely stood at 5,000 MW.
Hydroelectric plants have an important role during power outages as they quickly restore supply after blackouts and support thermal plants, which constitute 80% of the power plants in the country.
Hydropower is a renewable energy and is cleaner compared to other power plants. It constitutes a maximum of 12,000 MW of Iran’s total installed power generation capacity of 82,000 MW.
According to the Energy Ministry news website Paven, heavy rainfall in the past four weeks has raised water levels in dams and almost 78% of the dams are now full.
Iran registered 314 millimeters of rainfall in seven months.
“Precipitation rose 161% compared to the same period last year,” Ardakanian said.
Dams across Iran can hold a maximum of 50 billion cubic meters of water. Precipitation starting from last September raised the water in dams to over 39 bcm. The volume last year was 12 bcm.
