Iran to launch dual-purpose concentrated solar power plant

An Iranian official says the country will launch the world’s first two-purpose concentrating solar energy plant in the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2010-2015).

Head of Iran’s Renewable Energy Organization (SUNA) Yousef Armodeli said Yazd concentrated solar power plant will make it possible to simultaneously use solar energy and fossil fuels (natural gas) to generate electricity, Mehr news agency reported on Friday.

The project will add about 17 megawatts of electricity to the country’s power production capacity, he explained.

Yazd combined cycle solar power plant has the capacity to produce 467 megawatt hours of energy, the report added.

Earlier in October, Armodeli said Iran would launch the largest solar power plant in the Middle East in Shiraz, the provincial capital of the southern province of Fars, by 2015.

The Islamic Republic has made great strides in generating energy from renewable sources, mainly solar energy and wind power.

Iran is the 16th producer of electricity in the world and is working to achieve sustainable development in the field of renewable energy.

Earlier in June, Iran’s Energy Minister Majid Namjou said Iran is planning to generate more than 5,000 megawatts of electricity from renewable energy resources by 2015.

Namjou added that renewable energies would account for about three percent of Iran’s electricity needs by 2015.

www.presstv.ir