TEHRAN (Iran News) – Relying on domestic capacities and expertise, Mahabad Petrochemical Company, in the northwestern province of West Azarbaijan, has launched first floating solar power plant in Iran.
It has taken six months for the company to make the project operational, the CEO of the petrochemical company Abbas Farshbaf said, reported Mehr News Agency.
Located in a 400-square-meter of land, the current capacity of this power plant is 200 kWh per day, he said, adding that the figure will be increased to 500 kWh per day after the launch of the second phase of the plant.
Floating solar power refers to a solar power production installation mounted on a structure that floats on a body of water, typically an artificial basin or a lake.
Two types of systems can be distinguished: FPV or floating photovoltaic, that uses photovoltaic panels mounted on the platform, and floating concentrated solar power, that uses mirrors that redirect the solar power to a tower.
American, Danish, French, Italian and Japanese nationals were the first to register patents for floating solar power.
Iran’s renewable energy capacity, which was 825 megawatts (MW) by June 20, has increased to 831 MW, according to a report released by Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization (SATBA) on July 27.
The report added that wind and solar farms, with a total capacity of 815 MW, are also under construction across the country.
The share of solar energy in July, with 64 solar farms, has reached 45 percent in the total renewable energy capacity of the country and the share of wind energy, with 20 wind farms, has stood at 34 percent.
Other resources account for the remaining 21 percent of renewable energy capacity of the country.
Renewable energy projects attracted about $3 billion in private sector investments by June 20, the report added.
Iranian energy officials said the capacity for electricity production from renewable sources would increase to 4,000 MW in the summer of 2021 when the current administrative government leaves office.
- source : Iran Daily, Irannews
