The National Iranian Gas Company will resume gas supply to combined heat and power (CHP) plants as soon as they settle their unpaid debts, managing director of the company said.
“CHP plants’ dues to NIGC have amounted to $17.5 million,” Hamidreza Araqi was quoted as saying by Shana, the Oil Ministry’s news agency.
According to the official, these plants have been haggling over gas price with the National Iranian Oil Company and NIGC, which finally yielded positive results.
“The price of gas for the plants has been determined and they will soon be supplied with gas,” Araqi said without elaborating, expressing hope that CHP plants will clear the debt as soon as possible.
The official noted that there are still power stations that run on ecologically harmful fuel, especially mazut and diesel, with low efficiency.
“Delivering natural gas to plants is an effective measure to reduce their costs and boost effectiveness,” he said, adding that if financial constraints are removed, more gas ventures can be launched.
The government has instructed power plants and refineries to use gas instead of polluting feedstock due to abundance of gas reserves and the rise in output from South Pars Gas Field, the world’s largest gas field, shared between Iran and Qatar.
According to the official, Iran’s gas output amounts to 230 billion cubic meters per annum, which will rise to 290 billion cubic meters by March 2019.
Araqi added that increasing ethane output from 1.3 million tons to 8.4 million tons per year is on the company’s agenda for the next three years while liquefied petroleum gas production will reach 12 million tons in the period.
Cogeneration or combined heat and power is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is an efficient use of fuel. In conventional power plants, some energy is discarded as waste heat, but in cogeneration, most of this thermal energy is put to use.
Transmission Capacity
“The transmission capacity of natural gas via pipeline will reach 830 million cubic meters per day in the current year (started March 21), experiencing a 6% hike,” Saeed Tavakkoli, the director of the National Iranian Gas Transmission Company, said.
According to the official, close to 800 mcm of gas were supplied across the country via pipelines per day during the last fiscal.
“On average, 300 kilometers of the gas pipeline have been laid annually over the past four years. Moreover, 600 kilometers of new gas pipeline will be added to the grid by 2021,” he said, noting that close to 36,000 kilometers of high-pressure gas pipes have been laid in different parts of the country, which will be extended to 45,000 km by 2026.
