Energy, water, and environmental impacts assessment of electricity generation in Iran

•Life-cycle assessment of high-voltage electricity generation in Iran has been conducted.•Contributions of renewable and nonrenewable technologies to impacts have been determined.•Fossil-based thermal power plants are the main contributors to impacts.•Global warming potential of the electricity mix is estimated at 511 g-CO2-eq./kWh.•Wind turbines and hydroelectric dams have been identified as the cleanest technologies in Iran’s EGM. This paper uses a hybrid life cycle assessment method to assess the energy, water, and environmental impacts of high-voltage electricity generation in Iran based on Cumulative Energy Demand and ReCiPe 2016 methods. The aim is to determine the share of renewable and nonrenewable technologies in the associated impacts in order to inform policymakers about proper mitigation strategies. Assessments based on a cradle-to-gate approach showed that producing 1 kWh high-voltage electricity by Iran’s public sector is accompanied by 511 g-CO2-eq. greenhouse gas emissions, 9.52 MJ energy consumption, and 37 l water use. Natural-gas-firing single-cycle power plants (PPs), followed by natural-gas-firing combined cycle PPs, have the highest contributions to the life-cycle impacts of electricity generation in this country. Moreover, the consumption of liquid fossil fuels (diesel and heavy fuel oil) during the shortage of natural gas in cold seasons further escalates their contributions. The share of wind and hydropower plants in the resulting impacts was trivial by comparison. Findings suggested that an adequate supply of PPs with natural gas during clod seasons can partly lower water and environmental impacts of high-voltage electricity generation, but increasing the share of renewables in the electricity mix can considerably reduce most energy, water, and environment-related impacts.