Two small hydroelectric power plants in Markazi Province were launched Tuesday to improve network stability and expand production of clean energy.
Both stations are located in Mahalat County. A 4.8 megawatt plant is situated in Jardijan village and a 3 MW plant is in Larijan village, the Energy Ministry news website Paven reported.
Built by private companies, the two plants cost $6 million.
The plant in Jardijan has a capacity to generate 40 gigawatt hours of electricity per year and the one in Larijan can produce 25 gigawatt hours annually.
If the same amount of electricity by both plants was added to the national grid using gas-fueled power plants, it would need 25 million cubic meters of natural gas.
The plants will also prevent the emission of 35,000 tons of greenhouse gases annually.
With the new constructions, the total capacity of renewable power plants in Markazi Province reached 17 MW.
Hydropower is a renewable energy and its production is cleaner compared to other sources.
Hydroelectric power plants in Iran have an installed capacity of 12,000 MW.
Oil- and gas-rich Iran relies on fossil fuel power stations to meet more than 80% of its electricity demand. Iran’s total installed power generation capacity has reached 84,000 MW.
Such plants play a key role during power outages by quickly reestablishing supply and supporting other plants (mostly thermal).
As of now 56 hydroelectric power plants operate across the country. There are 15 more plants under construction.
Regarding hydroelectric power capacity, Iran is 19th in the world and 6th in Asia. China is first in Asia and the world with 341,000 MW.
Domestic producers can manufacture over half of the equipment needed in hydropower stations.
The Energy Ministry has announced that 250 key water and electricity projects worth about $12 billion will be completed in different regions by the end of the current fiscal (March 2021).
According to the International Energy Agency, hydropower is expected to remain the world’s largest source of renewable electricity generation and play a critical role in decarbonizing the power system and improving system flexibility.
Over the next five years, hydropower capacity is projected to increase 9%, led by China, India and Brazil. One-quarter of global growth is expected to come from just three megaprojects: two in China and one in Ethiopia.
But apart from these three large projects, new capacity additions are forecast to continue to decline. This is largely due to a slowdown in the two largest markets, China and Brazil, where growth is challenged by rising investment costs due to remaining economical sites being limited and to extra expenditures to address social and environmental impacts.
