MAPNA, Energy Ministry Indigenize Wind Turbine

EghtesadOnline: T he Energy Ministry’s Niroo Research Institute and MAPNA Group have manufactured a 2-megawatt wind turbine transformer, which will be operated in Abhar, Zanjan Province.

News ID: ۷۴۵۸۳۱

08 August 2018

According to Abbas Bahri, the project's manager, the electrical equipment's installation registered an 86% work-in-progress and is envisaged to be completed before March 2019, the Energy Ministry's news portal reported on Monday.

"Upon completion, the turbine will provide power to approximately 2,400 households," he said.

Bahri noted that using such turbines will help reduce emission of up to 3,600 tons of greenhouse gases per year and will help save hydrocarbon fuels burnt in traditional power plants, Financial Tribune reported.

According to the official, the achievement can bear multiple advantages such as providing large amounts of electricity, cleanly and reliably, at competitive prices.

--- Mass Production

Noting that more than 70% of the equipment can be supplied by domestic manufacturers, Bahri said it will be mass produced in case the market shows adequate demand.

Pointing to the quality of indigenized equipment, he noted that the product conforms to international standards.

"The scheme is aimed at both utilizing domestic experts' capabilities and using the country's huge potentials in harnessing renewable energies," he said.

The official said the main policy of the Energy Ministry is to encourage investment in domestic production and avoid importing machinery that can be indigenized.

Domestic needs were previously met through the import of wind turbines from western countries. However, imposition of sanctions on Iran, which impeded the country’s ability to acquire equipment and technology, made the authorities pay closer attention to self-reliance.

MAPNA has indigenized 2.5-megawatt wind turbines, which rotate at a minimum speed of 3.5 revolutions per second.

MAPNA Group is a leading contractor in the field of electricity, oil and gas, and transportation, and the largest manufacturer of power plants’ main components in the Middle East and West Asia.

It is a leader in implementing private power plant projects.

--- Other Bids

Domestic experts in Iran Transfo Corporation have also indigenized giant wind turbines, which weigh 330 tons and can be used in the generators of highly-efficient A-Class power stations.

According to previous reports by IRNA, the transformer will be installed at the Bandar Abbas Power Plant in Hormozgan Province in the near future.

Arsalan Fathipour, a member of Iran Electricity Industry Syndicate, the electrical device will be mass-produced and exported to regional markets in Iraq, Armenia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan.

"The country had to annually spend $50 million on importing transformers in the past, while we are planning to export the high-tech electrical device in the near future," he said.

"Each transformer will cost about $4 million," he added.

Pointing to the country's power industry priorities, Fathipour said electricity generation from alternative resources, namely wind farm, tops the agenda and the new device can play a key role in developing Iran's expanding wind turbine industry.

Iran's installed power production capacity is around 80,000 MW, but output from renewables comprises less than 1% of that amount.

According to published reports, the country plans to raise capacity by 1,000 MW each year over the next five years.