Iran's power plants increasingly depend on liquid fuels

Dalga Khatinoglu

The share of gas in fueling Iran's power plants is getting lower year-to-year, while expensive and polluting liquid fuels consumption rate in this sector dramatically increases.
National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) announced on April 16 that during last fiscal year - which covers a period from March 20, 2013 to March, 20, 2014- supplying gas to power plants decreased by 8 percent, while the consumption of liquid fuels in this sector increased to 27 billion liter, indicate 19 percent increase comparing to the previous year.

Iranian Fars News Agency quoted the Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian on April 10 as saying that 44 percent of burnt fuel in power plants was liquid fuels, including oil-gas and fuel oil during the last Iranian fiscal year.

The annual statistics released by Iran's Energy Ministry in March, indicate that the country's total electricity energy generation increased by 3.2 percent during the last fiscal year to 263 billion KWh.

According to this report the nominal power production capacity of the country's power plants are about 70.7 GW, while the real capacities in the summer and winter are 59.978 GW and 64.080 GW respectively.

Below is a chart of the yearly share of various power plants nominal production capacity as of March 2014:

Power plants
Share in total power generation
Liquid fuel usage
Million liters
Nominal Capacity (GW)
Real output
(GW)
Thermal
efficiency
Gas power plants
35.2%
Oil-gas: 6,497
24.876
20.223
30.6%
Hydropower plants
14.9%
-
10.525
10.525
-
Combined cycle power plants
25.2%
Oil-gas: 5,819
17.848
14.856
44.5%
Steam power plants
22.4%
Oil-gas: 378
Fuel oil: 15,308
15.829
15.312
36.8%
Nuclear and renewable power
1.6%
-
1.181
1.181
-
Others
0.6%
Oil-gas: 24
0.5
-
34.5%
Total

Oil-gas: 12,719
Fuel oil: 15,308
Thermal: 58.993
Non-thermal: 11.706
Thermal: 50.675
Non-thermal: 11.706
37% in average


 During the last Iranian fiscal year, gas power plants, combined cycle power plants, and steam power plants consumed about 526.4 billion cubic feet (bcf) (14.906 bcm), 486.91 bcf (3.788 bcm) and 271.67 bcf (7.693 bcm) respectively.

Some 1.285 tcf (36.387 bcm) of natural gas has been burnt in power plants in Iran during the last fiscal year, while the nominal gas consumption capacity of Iran's power plans is between 1.760 tcf to 1.871 tcf (49.75 bcm to 53 bcm) annually.

The country imported 3.718  billion KWh of electricity from northern countries, mostly from Turkmenistan (67.4 percent) and Armenia (30.9 percent), while it exported 11.774 billion KWh to six neighboring countries, mostly to Iraq (68.2 percent) and Turkey (20.4 percent).

Gas shortage

With regard to the annual statistics released by NIORDC, Iran consumed 1.345 tcf (38.107 bcm) of gas in power plants during 2012/2013 fiscal year, about 70.6 bcf (2 bcm) more than last year.

Iran has to decrease gas usage and increase the liquid fuels consumption in power plants due to the gas shortage in the country, and because of long-delayed upstream gas projects; especially with giant South Pars feeling the impact of tough western sanctions during the last three years.

Iran's daily gas production is about 20.306 bcf (575 mcm) per day, but the consumption volume becomes more than the production level during winter. Iran had to significantly cut gas supplies to power plants this winter, as well as gas re-injection to oil fields which are in their second half-life due to high demand for gas in the housing sector.

Iran sits on about 18 percent of the world's total proved gas reserves, which amount to 1,186 tcf (33.6 tcm) based on British Petroleum's statistics.

NIORDC's annual reports from 2003 to 2013 indicates that the share of gas in fueling power plants decreased dramatically from 81 percent to about 61 percent based on heating value, while the gas-oil consumption share increased from 3 percent to 12 percent and the fuel oil share increased from 16 percent to 26 percent.

Share of each fuel supplied to thermal power plants during lat decade:

Iranian fiscal year
Gas consumption
Oil-gas consumption
Fuel oil consumption
2002/2003
81%
3%
16%
2003/2004
79%
5%
16%
2004/2005
78%
6%
17%
2005/2006
72%
10%
19%
2007/2008
71%
9%
20%
2008/2009
74%
8%
18%
2009/2010
72%
9%
19%
2010/2011
73%
10%
17%
2011/2012
61%
16%
23%
2012/2013
61%
12%
26%

  

In the fiscal year ending on March 20, 2013, Iran supplied monthly about 150 bcf to 176 bcf (4.25 bcm to 5 bcm) of gas to power plants in the summer, while the figure decreased to 16.6 bcf to 77 bcf (0.47 bcm to 2.18 bcm) in the winter.

The country is suffering from gas storage capacity as well.
Iran has only one gas storage facility with 116.5 bcf (3.3 bcm) capacity, named Shourijeh, which helped Iran to re-extract daily 353 mcf (10 mcm) of gas during the winter, while the country's gas consumption in the housing sector surpassed 17.127 bcf (485 mcmpd) in a day. 

Iran had to decrease gas supply to petrochemical plants from 1.236 bcf per day to 530 mcf (35 mcm to 15 mcm), and stop gas re-injections to old oil fields and cut compressed natural gas distribution for more than a month.

The country hopes to implement three new phases of the South Pars gas field, which has been developed from 82% to 92% as of March 2014, in the next two years to boost daily gas production capacity by at least 6.227 bcf (182 mcm).
 

Dalga Khatinoglu is specialist on Iran's energy sector and Iran News Service head in Trend News Agency

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