Reza Panjabi said pipe laying and infrastructure building is underway in several cities in the southeastern province including Zahedan, Zabol, Khash, Iranshahr, Mirjaveh, Chabahar, Mohamadan, Bampur, Bazman and Delgan, IRNA reported.
“Over 1,200 km of gas pipelines have been laid in the provincial capital Zahedan.”
Zahedan needs 1,350km of gas pipelines and 90% of the city is now connected to the gas grid.
According to Panjabi, the gas supply project for Zahedan will be over by the end of the current fiscal next March to be soon followed by Iranshahr.
Iranshahr was the first city in the province that was partly connected to the natural gas grid. Later construction of a 262-km pipeline between Iranshahr and the provincial center Zahedan was completed.
The pipeline that brings gas to the province is an extension of the Iran Gas Trunkline 7 that extends from Asalouyeh in Bushehr Province pumping gas from the major South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf.
Supplying Industries
So far, around 100 factories and industrial units in the province are linked to the gas network and supply to 200 others has begun. Natural gas, seen as clean fuel is gradually replacing eco-unfriendly liquid fuels such as diesel and mazut in industrial units across the country.
All units in Zahedan Power Plant, which supplies 40,000 subscribers, are now running on gas.
Gas supply to Sistan rural areas has started and so far “seven villages have been connected to the national grid and 26 more will join soon,” Panjabi said.
The underdeveloped province is the only region in the country partially deprived of piped gas. Until the whole population of about 2.7 million are connected to the grid, homes will have to make do with gas cylinders or liquid petroleum gas.
Around 36 million cubic meters of LPG is used in the province per annum. This huge volume will be cut when the pipe laying projects are complete.
Completion of the gas grid in the southeastern regions will be a big boost to businesses in the port of Chabahar, Iran’s largest ocean port now under expansion.
A 300-km pipeline is being laid to link the port city to Iranshahr city in the center of Sistan-Baluchestan.
Regarding gas infrastructure, Iran tops the list in Asia and is fourth in the world. About 98% of the urban population has access to natural gas and 80% of the rural population is also linked to the national distribution network
Over 1,100 cities, 24,000 towns and 27,000 villages are linked to the rapidly expanding grid. Iran’s daily gas output now is the region of 900 million cubic meters.