TEHRAN – Iran’s first geothermal power plant, with the primary electricity generation capacity of five megawatts (MW), is going to go operational in the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 20, 2021), Deputy Energy Minister Homayoun Haeri announced.

According to Haeri, the necessary funding for the completion of the project has been allocated and the electricity generated by the power plant will be transmitted into the national grid in the current year, ILNA reported.

He put the project’s current physical progress at 71 percent and added: "[implementation of] This project was put on the agenda in order to evaluate and exploit the geological resources in the northwest of Sabalan while indigenizing the technical knowledge of design, construction, and commissioning of geothermal power plants, as well as capacity building and empowerment of skilled manpower."

Located in Meshkin Shahr County in the northwestern Ardebil province, the country’s first geothermal power plant is being constructed by the Thermal Power Plants Holding (TPPH).

The first stage of the plant development will feature a 5 MW turbine, while a total of 50 MW is targeted to be reached at later stages.

The power plant is being built at the foot of Mount Sabalan, about 85 km northwest of Ardebil. The current investment is reported at around $40.4 million.

Geothermal power refers to the use of underground hot steam to drive turbines which in turn generate electricity. It is cheaper and more reliable than other renewable energy sources, such as thermal or hydropower.

Greenhouse gas emissions in geothermal power plants are a small fraction of those produced in gas-powered stations and even far less in coal-powered facilities.

Besides power generation, the geothermal energy will be used for heating purposes in the region’s harsh winters and cooling in the summer.

EF/MA