"Six photovoltaic power stations with $16 million investment became operational simultaneously in several towns in Fars Province on Thursday," Mohammad Satkin was quoted as saying by the Energy Ministry news portal.
The first with a capacity of 10 MW went on stream in Larestan County and cost $5 million. It will help save 6 million cubic meters of natural gas and 8,500 cubic meters of water per annum.
Costing $10 million, two projects were completed in Lamerd and Shiraz counties. With a capacity of 20 MW, the two units will help reduce greenhouse emissions by as much as 140 tons per year. Twelve mcm of natural gas and 17,000 cubic meters of water annually will be saved.
Referring to Torkan solar plant in Kaftarak rural district, in Shiraz County, he said, “It is a 2-MW station that cost $1 million that will save 1 mcm of gas and curb greenhouse emissions by 3,000 tons per year”.
The last two PV stations were built in Neyriz and Eqlid counties with total capacity of 1 MW and cost $500,000.
“Close to 84 MW of power is generated from renewable energy sources in the province (per day).”
There are 10 large solar power plants, 1 wind power station, 2 hydro power plants, one biomass plant and 331 small PV stations (rooftop solar panels) in this region in south Iran.
Iran meets more than 80% of its electricity demand from thermal power plants that run on fossil fuels. Of the total 84,000 MW production capacity, only 890 MW comes from renewables.
However, the nation is taking measures to boost green energy and one of the goals of the government is to move toward non-fossil fuels and renewables.
Close to 4 billion kilowatt hours of electricity has been generated from alternative energy sources in the past 11 years, reducing water and fossil fuel consumption.
This volume of clean energy (4 billion kilowatt hours) was produced from June 2009 to April 2020 and helped cut 3 million tons of greenhouse gases and 900 million cubic meters of natural gas. It also saved 700 million liters of water.
One hundred plants produce renewable energy in Iran, 43% are solar, 41% wind-powered, 13% hydropower, 2% from heat recovery and 1% biomass.
Green sector investment in Iran has surpassed $1.5 billion and created 20,000 jobs, the Energy Ministry says.
Renewables contribute to sustainable socioeconomic growth, boosting global gross domestic product growth by 1%, employing close to 29 million people and generating 15% increase in welfare, mainly through health benefits from reduced air pollution, according to the latest analysis by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).