An overview of energy planning in Iran and transition pathways towards sustainable electricity supply sector

Abstract

Despite a substantial potential of renewable energy sources, the current energy supply system in Iran relies almost entirely on fossil fuel resources. It has imposed significant financial burden on the country and has led to considerable GHG emissions. Moreover, the country is confronting several challenges for harnessing alternative clean energy sources and promoting rational energy policies over the recent decades. To probe the root cause of these problems, this paper first provides an overview on the previous energy planning attempts in Iran. It shows that adequate commitment to a long-term energy planning could have meaningfully prevented these serious challenges. However, the previous studies have had some limitations in terms of employing appropriate planning tools, comprehensive evaluations, and scenarios definition and ranking. This paper thus proposes a power planning framework to assess the sustainability of future electricity scenarios for the period 2015-2050. MESSAGE, a systems engineering optimization model, is employed to evaluate the potential impacts of transitioning to a low-carbon electricity supply system. Using a combined AHP-TOPSIS method, the scenarios are then ranked based on 18 different techno-economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability. The results indicate that scenario Cl_32, in which the share of non-hydro clean energy for electricity generation reaches 32%, is ranked best.

Renewable Energy and EU 2020 Target for Energy Efficiency in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

“…Although the ratio of total energy consumption to GHG emissions is direct, the contribution of electricity consumption to GHG generation compared to other fuels used primarily for thermal purposes is much more significant compared to their share of total energy [17,18]. This can be backed up with the fact that the average carbon intensity (in gCO 2 -e/kWh) is internationally used in calculating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the electricity system, and the role of GHG in this system is highlighted in many reports and studies covering a wide spectre of countries, including China, Iran as well as other countries (see, e.g., [19][20][21]).…”

A Review on Energy and Renewable Energy Policies in Iran

“…Iran plans to increase the share of non-hydro renewable resources in its total electricity generation capacity to 5% (about 4 GW) by 2021 [33]. Aryanpur et al [36] argued that Iran should increase the share of non-hydro renewables to 32% by 2050. This will not only make it possible to use alternative gas (or liquefied petroleum gas) in other applications that have higher economic benefits, but also contribute to improved air quality in large cities.…”

Energy Production Forecasting From Solar Photovoltaic Plants Based on Meteorological Parameters for Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia

“…Hence, SPV power forecasting is a critical tool to address the volatile nature of high SPV penetration in the distributed generated systems. SPV power forecasting is considered a vital aid for the power grid operators as it helps them in scheduling generation and distribution according to the demand profile and maintains operating reserves in case of an emergency [5][6][7]. Thus, forecasting the SPV power has become a critical paradigm for efficient working of the grid operations and economic load dispatch.…”