No Blackouts in Summer

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Atotal of 4,500 megawatts of electricity will be added to the national grid this summer and there will be no blackouts in the hot season this year.

Addressing a press conference on Monday, Managing Director of Iran Power Plant Management Company (MAPNA)Iran Power Plant Management Company (MAPNA) Mousa Rafan said, "Almost 3,500 megawatts of the said figure have already been added to the power network and we are firm about adding 12,500 megawatts more by the end of 2010-11.

The official said blackouts last year made the Energy Ministry reach the conclusion that it should increase electrical output.

Therefore, last September, after a month of planning, MAPNAMAPNA presented a plan to the ministry for the purpose. Adding 12,500 megawatts to the national grid within two and a half years is an unprecedented accomplishment. Even big companies like Siemens implement such a plan in three years.

He noted that in 2008, the power industry did not face any problems regarding liquidity due to state assistance.

"The government paid the difference in costs of electricity consumed by people, which amounted to 40 to 50 trillion rials and hence this year we will not have any problem for procuring the cash flow," he said.

1st Conference
However, the cash flow mechanism has not been projected in the current year's annual budget.

"In case, the needed cash is not provided, we cannot fulfill some of our commitments," he said.

Rafan announced that the first national conference on thermal power plant industry (gas, combined cycle and steam) will be held at Tehran University during May 16-17.

"The event is cosponsored by MAPNAMAPNA and Tehran University, and it will mark the first step by the country for entering the field of designing power plant equipment," he said.

He noted that the conference aims to facilitate scientific studies for building thermal power units, preparing the ground for exchanging the experiences of domestic experts in the industrial sector with university researchers.

Another aim is to find ways of transferring the latest international accomplishments to the country.

Rafan said the number of countries possessing the know-how for designing power plant equipment does not exceed 10.

"Hence, a new activity has been launched in MAPNAMAPNA so that by holding the first national conference on the thermal power plant industry, the country will move toward acquiring the know-how," he said.

Rafan noted that designing turbines is the toughest and the most important phase in building power plant equipment.

"There are only a few international companies active in designing turbines. America's General Motors, Germany's Siemens, France's Alstom and Japanese firm MHI are top manufacturers specialized in designing turbines.

Iran, along with Italy, South Korea and China, is in the second group," he said.

Rafan said MAPNAMAPNA seeks to compete with these major firms.

"MAPNA GroupMAPNA Group is the number one company for power plant projects in the Middle East. We rank second after Japan in Asia. Even India, which has 60 years of experience in this industry, is ranked lower than MAPNAMAPNA," he said.

By Sadeq Dehqan

© Iran Daily 2009