“Wastage reduction planning is one of the main goals of Iran’s power industry, because of which the rate has been cut to 10.9% from 15% in the past few years,” Homayoun Haeri was also quoted as saying by ISNA.
Haeri made the statement while addressing a two-day international energy conference in Tehran.
The official said Iran’s electricity consumption has increased by 6% in the past decade and the Energy Ministry has targeted the addition of 20,000 megawatts to the country’s total power generation capacity, which is currently 80,000 MW, by 2022, according to Financial Tribune.
“The rise in power production will help provide energy to develop the country and improve welfare in line with the anticipated annual economy growth of 4% in the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan [2017-22],” Haeri said.
About plans to increase the efficiency of Iranian power plants, he noted that the administration’s policy is not only to use state-of-the-art turbines with high efficiency, but also to upgrade the operational power stations.
According to Haeri, the power plants’ average efficiency rate should reach 40% by the end of President Hassan Rouhani’s second term in office (2017-21).
“To accomplish the goal, Iran needs to adopt measures such as installation of F- and H-class turbines in power plants, converting gas-fueled plants to combined-cycle ones by adding steam units, rehabilitating dilapidated power stations and optimizing electricity equipment,” he said.
Haeri had earlier announced that in the first two months of the current fiscal, the country’s thermal power plants have increased production by 14% compared with the similar period of last fiscal year. “The thermal power plants are fully prepared for the hot season, as they have been overhauled. Iranian power plants have stored 7.3 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity since November," he said.
The official stressed that Iran should raise its installed power production capacity to 180,000 MW until 2036 to meet the nation’s growing consumption, which requires an investment of $100 billion, or $5 billion per annum.
Haeri called on the Iranian scientific community to come up with innovative methods for reducing power use, especially during the peak demand hours that are estimated to be 300 hours per year. Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, a deputy at Iran Grid Management Company, said last month that the total peak electricity demand hours are predicted to reach 500 in the current fiscal year (started March 21) from 300 hours, Mehr News Agency reported.
“The national grid’s power load amounted to 55,443 megawatts in the last fiscal, which is expected to rise by 5% this year and reach over 58,000 MW,” he said.