TEHRAN - Iranian Energy Ministry plans to launch several new power plants within the next two months to catch up with an increasing demand for electricity that could create a shortage of 10 gigawatts (GW) over the peak summer days.
A senior official from Iran’s Thermal Power Plants Holding Company (TPPH) said on Tuesday that a new 307-megawatt power plant is planned to come on line in late May in the southern Iranian province of Khuzestan.
Head of development projects at TPPH Hamid Reza Azimi said that the plant in the city of Andimeshk will be a third electricity station in Iran that will use F-class gas turbines in a combined-cycle system in which the exhaust heat from the turbines is used to raise steam.
The launch of the new power plant is one of several major projects planned by the Iranian Energy Ministry to minimize power cuts in Iran over the warm summer days.
Iran Grid Management Company (IGMC) said on Tuesday that the difference between maximum demand for electricity and actual production could amount to 10 GW in July, down from 15 GW recorded over the past summer.
IGMC’s CEO Mostafa Rajabi said that the launch of new power plants and better management on the demand side could help Iran see out the upcoming summer with lowest cases of power cuts.
Rajabi said that Iran may also decide to resume electricity imports from Azerbaijan to respond to rising demand in north and northwestern Iran over the coming months.