Thirty-one power plants are under construction in 27 provinces and will add 19,000 megawatts to the national capacity, the Energy Ministry said.
Iran's installed power capacity has reached 82,000 MW, of which 50,000 MW is produced by thermal plants. Combined-cycle and hydroelectric power plants generate 16,000 and 12,000 MW each and the remaining 4,000 MW comes from the sole nuclear power plant in Bushehr plus renewable and diesel power plants.
Production capacity of power plants has increased more than 11 times in 40 years while the population has doubled during the same period.
National power generation capacity was close to 7,000 MW in 1979 but now surpasses 82,000. An estimated 65% of the equipment used in the key sector is produced by local firms.
Regarding nominal power capacity, Iran ranks first in the region and 14th in the world.
Effective steps have been taken to convert conventional plants into combined-cycle units as the latter use 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 sent to nearby steam turbines that again generate electricity.
A nationwide project to overhaul thermal power plants and boost output is on track and registered a work-in-progress rate of 37% last August.
