With a total capacity of 910 MW, the power plant has two 310 MW class F gas units, a 290 MW steam unit, two boilers and a condenser unit, ISNA reported.
The plant has a efficiency rate of 56% and domestic manufactures provided half the equipment used in the plant supplying power to the western regions.
Energy efficiency of a conventional thermal power station is defined as salable energy produced as a percent of the heating value of the fuel consumed, Financial Tribune reported.
A simple cycle gas turbine has energy conversion efficiency of 35% while modern fossil fuel plants can reach 46% efficiency. Combined-cycle systems have higher levels.
The main air cooled condenser (ACC) of the plant is designed and implemented with a concrete base that was commended by the Concrete Research Center as a “top national concrete project” in January.
ACC is a direct dry cooling system where steam is condensed inside air-cooled finned tubes. In thermal power plants, the steam from the turbine exhaust flows into the ACC where condensation occurs. Then the condensate returns to the boiler in a closed loop.
The second gas unit will come on stream in February and the steam unit will be operational next summer. The entire project is estimated to cost $400 million.
An undertaking of the private sector, the plant is owned and constructed by Farab Company that has built several power plants and is active in oil, gas and petrochemical projects, railroads plus construction of water, wastewater treatment and desalination plants.
Farab has taken part in international projects and built power plants in Iraq, Tajikistan and Kenya.
Iran has an installed capacity of 82,000 MW. Thermal units, which either use steam, gas-powered or combined-cycle turbines, account for 65,000 MW of the total production.
Combined-cycle turbines produce 25,000 MW, gas turbines 25,000 MW and steam turbines 15,000 MW of electricity.
Ninth Spot
A total of 123 thermal power plants are operational. In thermal power generation Iran is ninth in the world.
China, the US, India, Japan, Russia, Germany, South Korea and Saudi Arabia have larger thermal capacity and rank first to eighth.
In a thermal power station heat energy is converted to electric power. Energy from a thermal power plant not utilized in power production must leave the plant in the form of heat into the environment. The wasted heat can go through a condenser and be disposed with cooling water or in cooling towers.
Some officials have said that power plants with a combined production capacity of 3,000 MW have long outlived their usefulness and should be either phased out or renovated.
Calls to decommission ageing plants appears to be a tall order (at least for now) as the government struggles to plug its ballooning deficit and the private sector is not interested due to the bloated bureaucracy and not being sure about the mechanism to receive money once the projects are completed.