TEHRAN- As announced by the managing director of Iran’s Thermal Power Plants Holding Company (TPPH), the output of the country’s thermal power plants will be increased by 3,500 megawatts (MW) by the end of the current Iranian calendar week (Friday).

Making the remarks in a meeting of the Energy Committee of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) on Monday, Mohsen Tarztalab stated that the 35-percent decrease in the amount of rainfall has severely limited the output of hydropower plants, and said: "We are trying to complete the repairs of the thermal power plants by the end of this week to add 3,500 MG of new generation capacity."

Saying that there will be about 10,000 MW shortage of electricity generation in this year’s summer peak consumption period, the official explained, “Last year, due to problems related to gas supply to power plants, we were not able to start repairs of thermal power generation units on time, and inevitably the steam units using liquid fuel were kept in production cycle.”

Last month, Tarztalab had announced that 69,000 megawatts (MW) new capacity of thermal power plants will enter the network by mid-June and after the end of the overhaul operations.

“The overhaul operations of the power plants are now underway and efforts are being made to complete this before the peak load”, he stated.

As announced by the official, the efficiency of Iran’s thermal power plants will reach 40 percent by the end of current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2022).

Tarztalab also said that the conversion of gas-fired power plants to combined cycle ones, applying gas turbines with new technology, upgrading the gas units and scrapping the worn-out power plants are some of the programs to increase efficiency in thermal power plants.

Referring to the announcement of the new energy document to the electricity industry, he said: "According to this document, by Iranian calendar year 1420 (started in March 2041) the efficiency of the country's thermal power plants should reach 50% percent, which will require heavy investments."

On April 16, the official had announced that the efficiency of Iran’s thermal power plants has reached a new record high of 39 percent for the first time in the history of the country’s electricity industry.

“The efficiency of the country’s thermal power plants improved by over 0.4 percent from the 38.56 percent in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20) to reach 39 percent,” Tarztalab announced.

According to Tarztalab, the mentioned improvement has decreased the fuel consumption of the country’s power plants by 846 million cubic meters in the mentioned year.

The TPPH head emphasized that the 0.4-percent increase in the efficiency of power plants has resulted in more than one percent increase in annual fuel saving.

“Annual fuel savings add value and preserve national capital, so measures to increase the power plants efficiency are among the most important goals of the company,” he stressed.

Tarztalab underlined the implementation of the annual overhaul program at the country’s power plants as one of the determining factors in achieving the mentioned efficiency ratio and added: “Technical issues and problems that occur during operation can affect the power plants’ efficiency; such issues are resolved during the implementation of the annual overhaul program to prevent the decline in the power plants’ efficiency”, he stated.

The official also stressed the significant impact of installing steam units in the country’s gas power plants on improving their efficiency and said: “The efficiency of large gas power plants is 31 percent on average; this figure can be increased to more than 45 percent by turning them into combined cycle plants.”

In this regard, last year, a total of 1,936 megawatts (MW) capacity of combined cycle power plants joined the country's national electricity network, he added.

MA/MA