Russian energy company Alenkor has signed a contract to build a 500-megawatt combined cycle power plant with Iran's state-owned Tavanir.
Alenkor's technicians visited an old power plant in Zarand, Kerman Province, Mehr News Agency reported.
The Russian technicians were sizing up Zarand's "water, ground and manpower potentials as well as power lines and routes for feeding a power station to build a 500-MW power station", Tavanir said in an official statement.
Zarand is Iran's first coal-fueled power plant in southeastern Iran.
"A new 500-MW plant will stabilize southeastern Iran's power needs," Seyyed Alireza Jafari, Zarand's engineering and planning deputy, said.
Iran and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding to expand cooperation in power generation last May. Building power stations and other infrastructure, undertaking electricity exchange and providing technical assistance were the main issues discussed.
Iran’s electricity industry ranks 14th in the world and first in the Middle East in terms of electricity generation with an installed power generation capacity of 74,000 MW.
