Executive operations for the construction of a 42-megawatt medium-scale power plant in Doroud County, Lorestan Province, has started with a total investment of $28 million, the deputy for development plans at the Thermal Power Plants Holding Company said.
“The project will help increase power output in the region with higher efficiency and less pollution compared to large-scale power stations in one of the less fortunate regions of the country,” the Energy Ministry’s news portal Paven also quoted Mohammad Ramezani as saying.
“Generating employment, utilizing the capabilities of local contractors, equipment manufacturers and consultants, helping increase the stability of network and indigenizing medium-scale gas power plant equipment are among the other goals of this project,” he said.
“The facility will replace one of the old units of Doroud Thermal Power Plant in Lorestan.”
Doroud County has a population of about 175,000 people in over 50,000 households. The industrial region boasts defense industries, Gahar Food Industries, a cement factory and a sugar factory. The county also has many stone quarries that feed stone and cement factories.
The products of these factories are exported to neighboring provinces and different parts of the country.
Ramezani emphasized that based on studies conducted on the country's electricity network, the use of medium-scale units was placed on the agenda of TPPHC as the construction of large power plants does not have technical and economic justification.
Referring to the TPPHC program for the installation of seven medium-scale units in five medium-scale plants, he said three units have been installed at Zahedan’s medium-scale power station in Sistan-Baluchestan Province.
As per the schedule, it has been decided to install three more units in Jask County of Hormozgan Province, Khatam County in Yazd Province and Shoush County of Khuzestan Province.
MAPNA Turbines
Last year, the company signed a contract with MAPNA Group for the construction of medium-sized power plants within 24 months in the remote areas.
Turbines with a capacity of 25-90 megawatts are considered medium-scale power plants.
MAPNA’s medium-scale power plants also have the ability to generate offshore and off-grid power, and are economically suitable for various industries. Another advantage of these units is the limited land area required.
In the medium-scale power plants, MAPNA will use MGT-40 gas turbines that have been indigenized by local specialists.
MGT-40 gas turbines are marked by robustness and long-term service lifetime that help tackle those challenges. The advantages and capabilities of MGT-40 gas turbines also include the flexibility of being set up in locations with space constraints, operating continuously and being resistant to adverse climatic conditions. They can also be constructed and start operating within six months, having full compliance with the standards and requirements of the electricity industry.
MAPNA Group is a conglomerate of Iranian companies involved in the development and execution of thermal and renewable power, oil and gas, railroads and other industrial projects, as well as manufacturing equipment.
TPPHC, a subsidiary of the Energy Ministry, oversees dozens of fossil fuel power plants with installed capacity of over 65,000 MW – the bulk of Iran's electricity demand.
Thermal plants account for over 80% of total power output (90 gigawatts) in the country.
Iran has been investing heavily in its energy sector in recent years to increase its electricity generation capacity, as it has been facing challenges in meeting the growing demand for electricity due to population growth and low efficiency of some old power plants that have been in use for over 50 years.
