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.
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.
Natural gas has been the main energy resource in Iran so far with a share of 60% of total primary energy consumption in 2013, following by oil with 38%, hydropower with 1–2%, and a marginal contribution of coal, biomass and waste, nuclear power and non-hydro renewables (BP Group 2014; EIA 2015).
SNG production tends to increase the electricity generation of the country to fulfil the growth demand. 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.
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).
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)