Hamedan Expanding Green Energy Footprint

Anew photovoltaic power station in Hamedan Province was synchronized with the national power grid on Thursday.

Located in Kabudarahang County, the 7 MW unit was built by a private company at a cost of $6 million, the Energy Ministry’s news portal reported.

It will generate 11.5 gigawatt hours of electricity per annum and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. If the same amount of energy was to be produced by a thermal power plant, 9600 tons of carbon dioxide would be used annually.

Similarly, the plant will cut water consumption by 3 million cubic meters.

Renewables have a small share in Iran's power industry that is mainly based on fossil fuels. Only 780 megawatts of the total 77,000 installed capacity comes from renewable sources.

To boost green energy, seven big solar power plants with a capacity of 48.6 MW and more than 28 rooftop photovoltaic units have been installed in Hamedan, 330 km west of Tehran.

Energy experts say there is no bigger and more sustainable energy source than the sun and that is why an increasing number of countries are fast moving toward solar plants.

With more than 300 sunny days in a year, Iran has huge potential to harness renewable energy, including geothermal, solar and wind power.