Solar Power for Nomads in South Khorasan

EghtesadOnline: South Khorasan governor says 10,000 solar panels will be distributed among nomads in the province.

News ID: ۷۴۹۷۸۲

01 March 2020

“South Khorasan nomads are a productive and influential community in the provincial economy. We have to increase services and address shortages,” ISNA quoted Mohammad Sadeq Motamedian as saying.

Promoting and expanding renewable energy by supplying nomads with cheap and light photovoltaic panels is on the Energy Ministry agenda, according to Financial Tribune.

Installing each panel in tents costs $500, of which $425 is paid by the Energy Ministry.

The panels generate enough power to help households  meet their needs like watching TV, charging emergency lights and cell phones in the middle of a plain or a desert.

There are 2,200 nomadic families in the province without access to electricity. Nomads generally move from one place to another in search of pasture and water for cattle, set up tents and nurture livestock.

Technology provides the opportunity to help nomadic communities with facilities to ease their daily, often difficult, tasks without interfering in their way of life.

Rapid urbanization and expansion of cities have dwindled the population of nomads who mostly straddle regions in South Khorasan, Fars, Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari and Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad provinces.

Data show that nomads made up almost one-fourth of Iran's population a century ago. The number has dwindled to below 2% of the population of 80 million.

Although new initiatives (providing solar power) will not raise the meager share of renewables in Iran in any considerable manner, it is seen as a step in the right direction.

Nationwide Program

By the end of next fiscal (March 2021) 25,000 nomad families will be equipped with portable solar power generators, head of Nomads Affairs Organization of Iran said.

The Energy Ministry is providing the panels so that nomads will have access to electricity during their regular journeys, IRNA reported Karamali Qandali as saying.

Over 5,000 nomadic households in remote areas now have access to renewable energy, namely solar power.

Relying largely on fossil fuels to generate power, Iran has made little progress in advancing its renewable agenda.

Total installed capacity of renewables is around 1,000 megawatts -- negligible compared to 82,000 MW of installed thermal capacity.

The government is collaborating closely with the private sector to promote renewables and is planning to raise clean energy output to 5,000 MW by 2022.