The 160-megawatt steam unit of Khorramabad Combined Cycle Power Plant will come on stream next year to help improve power supply in Lorestan Province, managing director of Iran’s Thermal Power Plants Holding Company said.
The two gas units of the plant, each with a capacity of 162 MW, were launched two years ago. With the addition of the steam unit, total capacity of the power station will reach 484 MW, Bargh News also quoted Mohsen Tarztalab as saying.
“The construction of steam unit has registered 60% progress and when operational, the plant will have an efficiency of 49%,” he added.
Khorramabad Combined Cycle Power Plant is located on a 96-hectare land in southeast Khorramabad, the provincial capital.
According to Tarztalab, over $400 million have been invested in the construction of the power station in the western province.
Three private investment firms that have previously funded the gas units of the plant, namely Iran Power Plant Investment Company, Saba Water and Power Investment Corporation and Farab Investment and Trade Company, as well as the National Development Fund of Iran, the sovereign wealth fund, are also collaborating to build the steam unit.
The steam unit is estimated to cost $190 million, 38% ($72 million) of which will be funded by private companies and the rest ($118 million) by NDFI.
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 additional electricity.
Iran meets almost 80% of its electricity demand from aging thermal plants that have reportedly outlived their usefulness and need to be replaced with modern infrastructure.
Steps have been taken to gradually convert conventional plants into efficient combined-cycle units.
Close to $3.5 billion have been invested in power plants since 2017. The total installed capacity has reached 85,000 MW and plans are underway to raise capacity as electricity consumption increases every year.
