Opportunities and Obstacles in Utilizing the Renewable Electric Power Resources in Iran

Energy supply has currently become one of the most strategic and critical issues of human societies; as many political, economic and social challenges have been directly or indirectly related to the energy crisis over the past few decades. Given that the energy sector has the greatest impact on increasing carbon dioxide emissions, the need to develop renewable energy to reduce the risks of pollution and climate change is highly significant. In Iran, with more than 85000 MW of installed capacity of the electricity network, only about 859MW of electricity (about 1% of total capacity) is extracted from renewable resources. There are various obstacles to the development of renewable energies, which is generally dependent on the economic and technical conditions, and one of the most important challenges is the lack of social acceptance and lack of awareness of citizens and energy stakeholders. The most important benefits of renewable energies includes increasing energy security, reduced global warming, economic growth, job creation, increased per capita income, increased social justice and environmental protection. In this article, the opportunities and obstacles to the use of renewable electricity sources in Iran are described and with the help of Vensim software, the status of renewable energies until 1430 is simulated and predicted based on existing conditions and different scenarios. Suggestions for expanding the use of renewable energy have been mentioned eventually.