Plan to Raise Power Output by 3,500 MW

EghtesadOnline: Plans are in place to increase electricity production capacity by 3,500 megawatts in the present fiscal that ends next March, said Mohsen Tarztalab, managing director of Iran's Thermal Power Plants Holding Company (TPPHC).

News ID: ۷۴۰۹۴۴

15 April 2017

"Close to 3,500 MW in new installed power capacity will be added to the national grid this year, up to 1,500 MW of which should come online in the next few months to meet summer demand," Tarztalab said without elaboration, ILNA reported.

The target, however, falls short of plans to raise annual power production capacity by 5,000 MW.

Tarztalab said the new supply capacity is expected to help the Energy Ministry avoid periodic outages during the hot summer, when demand peaks for cooling homes and businesses. The ministry has forecast electricity demand to reach 56,000 megawatts this summer, up from a record-high of 52,790 MW last year, according to Financial Tribune.

The official also said that power projects are facing funding constraints. "We need to recondition some of the aging power plants, but our biggest problem is funding," he noted.

Around 62,000 MW, or 80% of Iran's 75,000-MW output, is generated from thermal plants that burn fossil fuels. In addition, 12,000 MW comes from hydroelectric plants and 1,000 MW from the single nuclear power plant in Bushehr.

Besides constructing new power plants, the government is pushing with measures to convert conventional plants into efficient combined-cycle units that use both gas and steam turbines to produce up to 50% more electricity.

According to Tarztalab, the government has approved plans for several combined-cycle power projects, worth over $2.7 billion, through foreign funding.