“The 50-megawatt farm will have 20 wind turbines. Five are already in place and linked to the national grid and the rest are being installed,” Babak Zahed was quoted as saying by IRNA.
The turbines are equipped with a permanent magnet direct-drive system in which the turbine and generator are hinged to form a compact and structurally integrated unit.
“The design gives free access to all parts for easy installation and maintenance,” Zahed said.
The robust low speed rotor design with no separate cooling system results in minimum wear and tear, reduces maintenance requirements, has lower life cycle costs and a long lifetime, he said.
A 400 kV substation and 50 kilometers of transmission lines are 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 in December, 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.
“With abundance of wind, Zabol has huge potential to produce green energy with the help of modern turbines. The city is near the Afghan border and if electricity output increases exports to the neighbor could be boosted.”
Winds blow from the 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.
Special Blades
In related news, IRNA quoted Mohammad Shahabi, head of the Pars Daqiq Casting Knowledge-Based Company, a subsidiary of Oil Turbo Compressor Company (OTCC), as saying that fixed and moving blades of 25-MW gas turbines have been designed and manufactured by local companies.
“The cost of an imported blade is $1.2 million,” he said, adding that the same is being produced domestically at half price.
Gas-powered thermal power plants (all equipped with turbines) account for 50% of the total output (85,000 MW) and production of turbine blades by knowledge-based companies is crucial to cut costs, he noted.
According to Mohamad Saleh Olia, deputy for research and human resources at the Energy Ministry, almost 95% of the equipment needed in thermal power stations is now manufactured locally largely by startups involved in robotics and industrial automation.
The government has said it is determined to support innovative and knowledge-based companies in a variety of areas. Several such firms attended China’s High Technology Fair in Shenzhen in 2019 and discussed prospects for exporting knowledge-based products.
Founded in 2004, OTCC specializes in integrated oil and gas services namely design, procurement, construction and installation plus compressor station projects in the gas and petrochemical sectors.