The first steam unit of Asaluyeh Combined Cycle Power Plant was inaugurated via videoconference by President Hassan Rouhani.
Construction of the power plant’s steam portion was also carried out by MAPNA Group under a buyback scheme with Thermal Power Plants Holding Company. Investment will be compensated via the fuel savings in the power plant within a two-year span. Operations to set up the steam portion of the power plant kicked off in 2016 and ended by March 2020. The first of three 160-MW steam units was inaugurated on June 4, 2020. Upon full synchronization of the steam portion, Asaluyeh Combined Cycle Power Plant will have a nominal power generation capacity of 1500 MWs.
Each synchronized unit saves 250 million cubic meters of per year, and collectively helps boosts efficiency of the power plant from the current 34 percent to 53 percent.
Increasing energy demand prompted development of Asaluyeh steam portion in April 2016. The scope of the project includes installation of three E-type steam turbines and generators each with a nominal capacity of 160 MWs, plus six HRSGs, ACC cooling system, BOP (balance of plant) and generator station.
In the recent years, MAPNA Group spearheaded a campaign to convert Iran’s simple cycle power plants into combined cycle power generation complexes in order to increase power generation capacity, reduce fossil fuel consumption, and cut down emission levels.
The company is currently advancing construction of 9 steam units with an overall capacity of 1500 MWs in Parand, southeast of the capital Tehran, Asaluyeh, in the gas-rich Asaluyeh region on the coast of the Persian Gulf, and Tus (aka Ferdowsi) in vicinity of Mashad, Iran’s second largest city. The projects are directly and totally financed by MAPNA Group, with zero reliance on state funds.
So far, three steam units in Parand and one steam unit in Asaluyeh have been synchronized to the national grid. Plans have been made to synchronize the first steam unit of Tus Power Plant before the arrival of summer peak demand.
The main equipment of Asaluyeh Power Plant including turbines, generators, and heat recovery steam generators have been manufactured by MAPNA Group.
Asaluyeh Steam Unit I is also host to MAPNA Group’s first homegrown control system, MAPCS. Development of MAPCS was is MAPNA Group’s response to the shifting climate in the power plant industry including technological advances, increasing demand for domestic equipment, rising cyber threats, and the need for smart process automation.
The control system can be employed in a wide range of industrial complexes, from power plants to oil & gas sector and mobility industries.
Features of the new synchronized unit include an optimized feed water system, reduced number of pumps and tankers, and additional supplementary firings which help increase capacity of the unit in peak demand. Continuous electrodeionization technology has been employed in the power plant which helps reduce water consumption at a rate of 73 percent.
Located at the 25th kilometer of Asaluyeh-Parsian Road, the power plant initially comprised six gas-fired units constructed in an area of 130 hectares.
Operations for construction of the gas unit began in June 2015 and all gas-fired units were synchronized to the grid by 2018. The project was carried out under a BOO (build-own-operate) scheme. MAPNA Group served as the direct investor of the project, signing an energy conversion agreement with Thermal Power Plants Holding Company, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Power.
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