Why does Iran have a low storage capacity?

In terms of storage, the low installed capacities can be explained by the fact that Iran has a high availability of RE sources, particularly wind energy, solar PV and hydropower, which can produce electricity all-year-round (Fig. 6). The total storage capacities soar from 9.7 TWh in the country-wide scenario to 110.9 TWh in the integrated scenario.

Does Iran need a natural gas system?

As Iran’s energy system is currently dominated by domestic natural gas usage, SNG can logically play a significant role in addressing future energy demand. The system total annual cost and capex increased from 15 to 119 b€ and from 167 to 1150 b€, respectively.

Is electricity storage an economic solution?

Electricity storage is currently an economic solution of-grid in solar home systems and mini-grids where it can also increase the fraction of renewable energy in the system to as high as 100% (IRENA, 2016c). The same applies in the case of islands or other isolated grids that are reliant on diesel-fired electricity (IRENA, 2016a; IRENA, 2016d).

Which energy sources are least exploited in Iran?

Modern biomass, waste-to-energy and geothermal power production are the least exploited energy sources in Iran. However, waste-to-energy projects will become more important. The installed RE capacity in Iran can be seen in Table 2. Table 2 Installed RE capacity in Iran (MW)

Is solar energy a viable option in Iran?

The potential for PV is extremely high in Iran, mainly due to having about 300 clear sky sunny days per year on two-thirds of its land area and an average 2200 kWh solar radiation per square meter (Najafi et al. 2015).

Is LCOE a competitive cost for 100% re energy systems in Iran?

From Table 11, it can be seen that the total LCOE for both analyzed scenarios are low. However, the integrated scenario shows a much more competitive cost for 100% RE energy systems for Iran in the year 2030. An 11% decrease in total LCOE can be observed in the integrated scenario due to a reduction of all estimated levelized costs (Fig. 5).