Power, Gas Infrastructure Making Its Mark in East Azarbaijan Regions

EghtesadOnline: Thirty-five projects, worth of $1 billion were launched in East Azarbaijan Province Thursday.

News ID: ۷۴۸۰۶۰

04 August 2019

Power production capacity has reached 81,700 megawatts from 62,000 MW six years ago, President Hassan Rouhani said during the inauguration of the first phase of Heris Combined-Cycle Power Plant in Heris County.

“Over the past six years almost $3.3 billion has been invested in the power industry annually and the private sector too is active in the projects,” the Energy Ministry news portal Paven quoted Rouhani as saying.

Praising the role of private companies in the power industry, he said 67% of the total electricity is generated by the private sector, Financial Tribune reported.

The gas unit of Heris Power Plant in Heris County was launched Thursday. It has a production capacity of 310 MW.

A steam unit of the plant, with a capacity of 180 MW, has made 86.5% progress, and will be operational by next summer.

The Energy Ministry reports that $266 million has been spent on the power plant, $180 of which is the share of the private sector. Designing and construction of the plant was undertaken by domestic engineers.

Raising the Bar

Rouhani also inaugurated projects in Tabriz Refinery related to producing base oils, lubricating oils and improving gasoline and diesel quality to Euro 5 standard.

“Improving quality and protecting the environment are the government’s priorities. Tabriz Refinery can be billed as a clean refinery because of the high quality of its products,” the Oil Ministry news agency Shana quoted the president as saying.

With completion of the development project, Tabriz Refinery now has a new gasoline unit with a capacity of 20,000 barrels per day, a new diesel unit for 30,000 barrels per day, and new units to produce lubricants with annual capacity of 40,000 tons and base oil with 90,000-ton capacity.

The development projects so far have helped convert total production (3.5 million liters per day) of gasoline to Euro 5 standard and one-third of diesel to Euro 5 standard (2.5 million liters per day).

During his one-day tour to the northwest province, Rouhani opened 30 more economic and infrastructural projects by videoconference.

The projects cover several areas, namely farming and drainage systems, water, power and gas supply and industries.

“We have achieved self-sufficiency in gasoline, diesel and natural gas production. The Oil Ministry has done a great job in supplying gas to rural areas -- a process still underway,” the president said, noting that approximately 3,000 rural areas get access to piped gas every year.”

Production Outstrips Demand

Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said Iran is producing 15 million liters of gasoline more than domestic demand, and the surplus is stored.

“Daily gasoline output increased from 52 million liters in 2012 to 107 million liters in June; a figure projected to reach 110 million liters per day by the end of August,” Shana quoted him as saying.

Regarding fuel quality, he said this month gasoline output that meets Euro-4 and Euro-5 qualifications would reach 74 million liters a day from zero in 2012. Diesel output with euro standards will reach 50 million liters a day.

According to the minister, 80% of the refining industry is the function of the private sector.