TEHRAN – Head of Iran Grid Management Company (IGMC) has said the generation capacity of the country’s small-scale power plants reached 1,100 megawatts (MW) during the current year’s summer peak consumption period (June 22- September 22), IRNA reported.

“The share of small-scale power plants in the country's electricity generation currently stands at two percent,” Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi wrote in an Instagram post.

We need the output of these power plants during the coming winter and the next year’s summer peak period as well, so it is recommended that overhaul operations be conducted for these units in case of necessity so that they can operate at full capacity during peak consumption periods, he stated.

According to the official, such power plant units have proper economic justification in most parts of the country, especially in underprivileged areas.

At present, Tehran, Isfahan, and Mazandaran have the highest number of installed small-scale power plants, Rajabi Mashhadi said.

The official noted that the government is pursuing a plan to make it possible for such power plants to sign contracts with industrial units to sell their generated electricity directly to the customers and get paid accordingly.

As reported, because small-scale power plants are constructed at the place of consumption (e.g. for factories, etc.) the loss of electricity in the transmission lines is eliminated, and therefore they are of significant importance in this regard.

Reducing the costs of network development, improving the voltage profile, and strengthening the resilience of the network are other important advantages that the use of such power plants is offering to the country's electricity industry.

Iran’s electricity consumption has been increasing sharply in the past few years as the weather is getting hotter in the country and people are using air conditioners more often; So, constructing such power plant units could reduce the pressure imposed on the power grid during the peak consumption period.

EF/MA