“Tehran has 9 hydropower units with total installed capacity of 268 MW that generate 431,000 megawatt hours of electricity annually,” IRNA quoted Mohammad Shahriari as saying.
Amirkabir Hydroelectric Power Plant adjacent to Amirkabir Dam has two 45 MW units, Taleqan Power Station near Taleqan Dam has two 8.9 MW units, Latyan Plant close to Latyan Dam has two 22.5 MW units and Kalan Power Station adjacent to Lar Dam has three 38.5 MW units, he noted.
“Electricity generation in these plants is designed according to water conditions, and the increase or decrease in power production is affected by the water levels in dams,” the official added.
“Due to high precipitation and the good condition of water reservoirs last year, output from these plants was above normal. Production reached 548,000 MW hours, a record since their establishment,” Shahriari noted.
The record was reached while the year before was almost a dry year and output from Tehran's hydroelectric power stations was below normal generating 236,000 MW hours. Rise in the year after was due to better rainfall that led to the storage of more water in dams.
This year's hydropower output might not be as high as last year, but with appropriate levels of water in the dams, production would be normal in these plants, he said.
Five dams around Tehran, namely Taleqan, Latyan, Mamlou, Amirkabir and Lar can hold 1.93 billion cubic meters of water. With the recent rainfall, there is close to 1.1 billion cubic meters of water in the five huge dams.
Dams across Iran can hold over 50 billion cubic meters of water and now 70% of them are full.
Hydropower constitutes approximately 12,000 MW of the total installed power generation capacity of 84,000 MW.
Hydroelectric plants play a key role during power outages by quickly restoring supply and supporting other plants (mostly thermal).
As of now 54 hydroelectric power plants operate across the country. There are 17 hydroelectric power plants under construction that should add 3,725 MW to the national grid.
Regarding hydroelectric power capacity, Iran is 19th in the world and 6th in Asia. China is first in Asia and the world with 341,000 MW.