country must import coal and that coal is dirtier than Iran’s oil or gas.
Deputy Energy Minister Mohammad Behzad said the plant would be built at Tabas, a major mid-desert city in Yazd province. It said it would generate 650 megawatts of electricity and thus would add about 1 percent to Iran’s generating capacity.
He said the Chinese company—which he did not name—would invest $500 million in the project.
The Tehran Times said the Islamic Republic has plans to build a chain of coal-fired power plants that will generate 5,000 megawatts of electricity or five times the capacity of the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
The report did not say why Iran wanted coal-fired plants. Coal is an infinitely greater pollutant than either oil or gas, which Iran has in vast quantities.
Furthermore, Iran has little coal. In 2010, it imported one-third of the two million short tons of coal it consumed.
The government has been emphasizing autarky or economic independence and has been saying it is dedicated to removing any dependence on imports. But it must import uranium to fuel all the nuclear power plants it says it will build and now it is building coal-fired plants that will require imported coal.