MAPNA Synchronizes 2nd Steam Unit of Urmia Power Plant

The 2nd steam unit of Urmia Combined Cycle Power Plant, with a capacity of 160 MW, was synchronized to the national grid on Sunday, December 26, 2021.

MAPNA Combined Cycle Power Plants Construction and Development Company (aka MD-2), the subsidiary in charge of the project, is carrying out the project.

So far, MD-2 has synchronized a total number of 106 units with an aggregate capacity of 16,359 megawatts inside and outside Iran.

Back in 2017, MAPNA Group signed a contract with Tadbirsazan Saramad, owner and investor of Urmia power plant, to construct the steam block for the plant, which comprises three 160MW units, equipped with MAPNA’s E-Type Steam Turbines.

The project is the country's largest and most modern power plant for supplying power to the national grid in the northwest. The benefits of constructing combined cycle units at the Urmia Power Plant include increasing Iranian electrical production capacity, lowering fuel usage, and increasing efficiency.

According to Amir Mohammadi, the Urmia project’s manager, affiliated with MAPNA Combined Cycle Power Plants Construction & Development (MD-2) Company, the third unit of the steam block is envisaged to go on stream by March 2023.

Once the steam block goes into full operation, it will reduce fuel consumption by one billion cubic meters per year, which is equivalent to 10% of the total fuel consumption of West Azerbaijan province.

With the addition of steam units, the efficiency of the power plant will increase from 32% to 49% and the total access factor of the power plant will reach 95%.

Installing dampers for gas units to limit gas waste is one of the most significant things done in this project, according to Mohammadi.

Other features of this project include significant environmental compatibility and water resource conservation; with the combined cycle of the power plant, the hot exhaust gases of the gas turbine enter the power generation cycle again instead of directly entering the atmosphere and wasting, and a water recovery system is also designed to reduce water consumption to almost zero.

Urmia power plant is located in Urmia, center of West Azerbaijan Province in northwest Iran.

The power plant consists of six gas units each with a capacity of 157.5 MW each (630 MW in total). To build the plant V94.2 gas turbines have been used and so far all the gas units of the power plant have been synchronized.

The plant’s project client is Iran Power Development Company (IPDC), the client consultant is Ghods Niroo Consulting Engineers Company and the main contractors are MAPNA DM-1 and DM-2 companies. The capacity of the substation of this power plant is 230 kW. The engineering, procurement and construction of the plant are within the authority of the project client.