Hamid Chitchian told Mehr News that in line with the plans to build new power plants, “we will dismantle old and effete power plants.”
“The current installed capacity of electricity generation of the country exceeds 72,000mW; when the new government assumed power in August 2013, 3500mW electricity generation capacity was under construction; during the last year, the ministry has signed contracts to add another 10,000mW with foreign and domestic contractors and investors to build new power plants,” said the minister, “by next five years, the ministry has plans to install and operate 33,000mW new electricity generation capacity to connect to the national grid,” which he estimated would improve the total capacity to more than 100,000mW.
“Improving the performance efficiency of the currently working power plants is a priority apart from dismantling and phasing out of the operation for the old underperformance power plants; the current performance efficiency of the power plants is 37 per cent,” Chitchian told Mehr News.
Chitchian also said that the ministry would rely on the capabilities of the private sector to achieve such a feat of improving the performance efficiency in the currently operating power plants; “a possible scenario is to convert from gas-operating power plants to combined cycle power plant; currently, 3700mW are generated in combined cycle method,” he added.
The energy minister expressed hopes that the conversion of thermal power plants to combined cycle power plants would increase performance efficiency and significant reduction of gas and other liquefied fuels in power plants in a course of a 5-year plan.
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