“The 50 MW plant, under construction on 25 hectares, has 20 turbines the first of which was linked to the national grid,” Homayoun Haeri was quoted as saying by the Energy Ministry news portal.
The turbines are equipped with a permanent magnet direct-drive system in which the turbine and the generator are joined to form a compact and structurally integrated unit.
“The design gives free access to all parts for easy installation and maintenance.” The robust low speed rotor design with no separate cooling system results in minimum wear, reduced maintenance requirements, lower life cycle costs, and a long lifetime, Haeri said.
A 400 kV substation and 50 kilometers of transmission lines also became operational connecting the turbine to the grid.
A 1 MW wind power can produce up to 3 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year. When fully operational Mil-e-Nader farm will generate up to 150 million kilo-watt hours per annum.
An undertaking of Mapna Company (the largest manufacturer of wind turbines in Iran), the project is expected to cost $70 million and be completed by March.
“With abundance of wind, Zabol has huge potential to produce large volumes of power with turbines. The city is near the Afghan border and if electricity output increases exports to the neighbor would be possible.”
Winds blow from end of May to late September in the east and southeast of the Iranian Plateau, particularly in Sistan-Baluchestan. Typical wind speed is 30-40 kilometers per hour, but occasionally exceeds 100-110 km, and when wind speed increases work is disrupted making it difficult to install the turbines.
Impactful Performance
Drawing largely on domestic expertise, Mapna is a leading company in wind power generation and expansion with wind farms already producing 105 MW in Qazvin and East Azarbaijan provinces.
The company is a key player in the electricity, oil, gas and transport sectors, and the largest manufacturer of power plant equipment in the Middle East and West Asia. It has an impressive performance in industrial advancement and technological prowess.
Iran’s largest wind farm, with a capacity of 61.2 MW, was launched in Siyapoosh region in Qazvin Province in 2019. Built over 17 hectares, the plant is equipped with 18 turbines of 3.4 MW with direct-drive systems. The second largest wind farm (50 MW) is in Aqkand village in East Azerbaijan Province.
About 60.4 gigawatts of wind energy capacity was installed globally in 2019, a 19% increase from 2018.
Total wind energy capacity globally was over 651 GW at the end of 2019. China and the US were the world’s largest onshore wind markets together accounting for more than 60% of new capacity last year.
The year 2020 was expected to see a record in wind energy with the Global Wind Energy Council forecasting 76 GW of new capacity. However, as the Covid-19 pandemic spread many projects were delayed.
Iran's installed power production capacity is around 84,000 MW but output from renewables comprises less than 1%. The share of renewables in power production is less than 1,000 MW and there are increasing calls for moving faster towards green energy as climate change and global warming take a toll.
Sistan-Baluchestan is the only Iranian region that shares borders with Pakistan. There are five border crossings between the two countries, namely Mirjaveh, Jaleq, Kuhak, Pishin and Rimdan.