Tehran Power Plants Prepare for Summer

EghtesadOnline: Three thermal power plants in Tehran, namely Tarasht in west and Rey and Besat in the south, provide electricity to the megalopolis. However, since the start of fall and with decline in consumption, two of the stations have ceased operation, said the director of Technical Support Office at the Thermal Power Plants Holding Company.

News ID: ۷۴۹۴۳۸

13 January 2020

“Tarasht Power Plant was disconnected in October and Rey Power Station stopped work in November. Currently only Besat Power Plant is operating,” IRNA quoted Gholamreza Mehrdad as saying.

Besat station, which was built half century ago, has a capacity of 200 megawatts. It supplies a small part of 3,000 MW Tehran needs. But as power grids in all cities are synchronized, Tehran’s electricity demand is also provided by plants in other cities, Financial Tribune quoted him as saying.

Rey and Tarasht power plants each have a capacity of 800 MW and 65 MW, respectively. Similar to many other thermal power stations in Iran, the two have undergone overhaul in the cold season to get ready for the summer when temperatures and consumption rise.

The Tarasht station is 60 years old. With the help of knowledge-based companies and the private sector, older units have been upgraded and the Tarasht plant is operating at full capacity. The one in Rey is relatively new (15 years old).

Annual Program

The thermal power plants are undergoing routine overhaul to get ready for peak demand.

“Repair and maintenance programs are underway at several gas and steam units with a capacity of 46,000 MW,” Mehrdad was quoted as saying.

The annual overhaul begins every year in early September and continues until May in the following year.

Average lifespan of a power plant is 20 years. However, the intention and need to decommission ageing plants is absent because the government is struggling with a  ballooning budget deficit and the private sector no more is interested in lending a helping hand due to the bloated bureaucracy and being unsure about when they will be paid once the power and related projects are complete.

More than 80% of electricity output in Iran comes from thermal plants that run on fossil fuels.

A total of 123 power plants with production capacity of 66,000 MW are operational across the country. These include gas-fired and combined-cycle power stations.

In the next two years, 20 power stations will come on line and add 10,000 MW to the electricity generation capacity.

Private companies have contributed $1.2 billion to the power generation projects and the government’s share is e $500 million

Over two-thirds of Iran’s thermal power plants are owned and operated by private firms and generate almost 67% of the domestic thermal power.

With installed capacity of 66 gigawatts, Iran ranks ninth in terms of thermal power capacity in the world.

China, the US, India, Japan, Russia, Germany, South Korea and Saudi Arabia have larger thermal power capacity and are ranked first to eighth, respectively.