“These include 13 photovoltaic power plants and one wind farm in Hamedan, Zanjan, Tehran, East Azarbaijan, Kerman, Yazd and Fars provinces,” Mohammad Sadeqzadeh as saying.
The ventures cost $159 million and created 300 jobs, the Energy Ministry news portal quoted him as saying.
Iran's total installed capacity of renewable energy production is close to 1 gigawatt, Financial Tribune reported.
"Solar and wind farms annually inject 73 million kilowatt hours of electricity to the grid."
He referred to a 7-MW solar farm that was inaugurated in Abhar County, Zanjan Province on Tuesday.
"Built over 14 hectares, it is the first of its kind in the province and was built in four months with the help of the private sector at a cost of $7 million," the official said.
It will generate 11,000 megawatt hours of electricity per year and help reduce greenhouse gasses. Were the same amount of energy to be produced by a thermal power plant, 9,598 tons of carbon dioxide would burn on yearly basis. The plant also will save 3 million cubic meters of natural gas and 3 million liters of water.
Zanjan is the 27th province (total 31 provinces) equipped with a large-scale (1MW capacity) solar power plant. Designing, producing equipment and construction of the plant was carried out by Parto Energy Iranian Development Company.
Wind Turbine
Sadeqzadeh said the Energy Ministry’s Niroo Research Institute and Mapna Group, a leading contractor in the field of electricity, have manufactured a 2 MW wind turbine transformer that will be used for the Abhar wind farm.
According to the Satba boss, installation of equipment for the Abhar facility is near completion.
With a population of 1.1 million, Zanjan is a major tourist attraction. It has a highland climate characterized by extremely cold winters and warm summers. Average maximum temperature is around 27 degrees centigrade and the average minimum hovers around -19 degrees.
Regarding other provinces, he said a new PV power plant has also been linked to the network in Fars Province. The station, costing one million dollars, has 107 panels with the capacity to generate 620 kilowatt of power and help augment power supply in summer.
Private Sector Role
Private companies have so far invested more than $1 billion in the gradually expanding renewable sector. Due to government funding constraints, private firms are playing a more assertive role in promoting clean energy.
Production of one megawatt of solar energy cost $1.5 million in 2016 but has now declined to less than $600,000.
Lower costs have encouraged private firms to increase investment in PV power, and as a result the share of renewables in energy output has increased from 0.2% of total production three years ago to 1% now.
Another factor that has helped the growth of renewables is indigenizing production of equipment and tools. Local companies are manufacturing some of the necessary equipment, including photovoltaic panels, cables and transformers.
According to Renewable Capacity Statistics 2019, released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), wind and solar energy account for 564 GW and 480 GW of the total global green energy generation capacity respectively.
Global weighted-average cost of electricity has declined 26% year-on-year for concentrated solar power (CSP), followed by bio-energy (-14%), solar photovoltaic and onshore wind (both -13%), hydropower (-12%), geothermal and offshore wind (both -1%).