TEHRAN - A 10-megawatt solar power plant was inaugurated in Kerman province southeastern Iran last week, Mehr news agency reported.

Based in Baft County, the $4.6-million plant was fully designed and constructed by Iranian experts.

According to Energy Ministry, the new solar farm will help reduce greenhouse gases by up to 10,000 tons annually and save the consumption of 4 million cubic meters of natural gas and over 3,000 cubic meters of water.

Currently, nine solar plants with a total capacity of 59 MW are operational in the central Iranian province, which has a dry climate and has sufficient solar radiation.

Meanwhile, 926 rooftop systems are also functioning in the province, with a total capacity of 8,228 kilowatts.

According to the energy ministry, currently the capacity of Iran’s renewable power plants stands at 724 megawatts (MW), and 416 MW capacity of new power plants are under construction.

As reported, of the country’s total renewable capacity, 44 percent is the share of solar power plants while the share of wind farms stands at 40 percent and small-scalded hydropower plants generate 13 percent of the total renewable capacity.

Accounting for only six percent of the country’s total power generation capacity, renewable power plants have created 43,450 job opportunities across the country and the volume of private investment in this sector has exceeded 124 trillion rials (over $2.95 billion).

Overall, in the next five years, Iran is aiming for a 5,000 MW increase in renewable capacity to meet growing domestic demand and expand its presence in the regional electricity market.

According to Iran’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization (known as SATBA), the number of small scale solar power plants across the country which are used by households or small industries is being increased noticeably as Iranian households and small industries have embraced the new technology with open arms and investors also seem eager for more contribution in this area.

In early May, Seyed Mohammad Sadeqzadeh, the head of SATBA, announced that Iran plans to add electricity generated from renewable sources to its export backset.

According to the official, the capacity of power generation from the renewable sources will exceed 1000MW by the end of the current Iranian year (March, 19 2020).

EF/MA