Iran’s renewable power plants capacity to rise by 500 MW by mid March, says official

Iran said capacity of its renewable power plants would rise by 500 MW in the second half of the current Iranian calendar year (September 22, 2024- March 19, 2024).

News ID: 5394

Date: 10 November 2024 - 11:04

TABNAK, Nov, 10 : “Considering the capacity of new power plants under construction, by the end of the year (March 19, 2024) we will have an increase in renewable power plants capacity by 500 megawatts,” said a senior official in Iran's Renewable Energy and Electricity Productivity Organization (SATBA) Ali Shab-Naward.

“Now that we are in the third quarter of the year, capacity rise in renewable power plants has reached 213 megawatts, which means double growth in the annual capacity of renewable power plants in the country over past years.”

On November 5, SATBA released a report, saying that the capacity of Iran's renewable power plants reached 1,231.06 megawatts (MW).

The share of wind power plants is 29 percent with 376.3 MW and the share of solar power plants with 595.16 MW is 60 percent, according to the SATBA data for the end of the sixth Iranian calendar month of Shahrivar (September 21).

Small hydropower plants account for 8.0 percent of the country’s total renewable power with 103.73 MW.

Biomass power plants also have a two percent share with 22.13 MW, and the share of expansion turbine power plants with 9.6 MW is also one percent.

Over the past few years, the Iranian government has taken serious measures to accelerate the growth and development of renewable energies in the country.

Diversification of financing models for renewable projects, increasing the ceiling of guaranteed electricity purchase, providing the possibility of buying and selling renewable electricity in the green board of the Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX), and providing the possibility of exporting renewable electricity have been the most important measures taken for this purpose.

Iranian Energy Ministry has also put it on the agenda to add 10,000 MW to the capacity of the country’s renewable power plants by the end of 2025.

Iranian renewable power plants generated 264 million kilowatt-hours (Kwh) of electricity in the fifth Iranian calendar month of Mordad (July 22-August 22), registering a 23-percent growth compared to the same month in the previous year.

According to SATBA data, renewable power plants generated over 1280 Kwh of electricity since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20).

The electricity generated by renewable sources also increased by nine percent in the fourth Iranian calendar month of Tir (ended on July 21) compared to a month earlier.