Siemens, Germany's largest engineering company, is reportedly close to signing an agreement to finance the construction of Jalal Power Plant in Tehran Province.
Mohammad Reza Ayatollahi, an official at Zakhireh Shahed Company, said on Wednesday that during an Iranian economic and energy delegation’s visit to Europe last week, negotiations were held over financing the power plant project and Siemens will be a potential investor.
“Talks with Siemens are expected to lead to a contract in the near future,” IRNA quoted Ayatollahi as saying on Wednesday whose company was involved in negotiations.
He added that the project requires an estimated $330-350 million investment in its first development phase.
With a production capacity of 500 megawatts, the combined-cycle power plant is due to be set up in the city of Damavand. According to Ayatollahi, a piece of land and water installations have been provided for the plant.
Ayatollahi noted that during the trip, bilateral negotiations were held with companies that are capable of financing large power plants.
A delegation of 60 top executives of Iranian private sector enterprises, active in the sectors of oil and gas, transportation, mining, metals, agriculture as well as information technology and banking, accompanied Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during his visit to Warsaw last Sunday.
The European tour, which included Finland, Sweden and Lithuania, was one of Tehran's moves to drum up business with the West after the lifting of sanctions earlier in mid-January.
The official stressed that for attracting investment in other sectors, the subsidiary companies of Zakhireh Shahed Company were introduced to foreign sides, some of which expressed interest in financing Iran’s plans.
“To follow up the preliminary agreements, Iran will provide complementary information on development projects and plans are made for foreign companies’ Iran visit to finalize deals,” he said. Established in 1995-96, Zakhireh Shahed Company is a subsidiary of a supervisory institute that also controls Shahed Company, which owns holdings in the sectors of trade, construction and real estate, investment, technology as well as energy.
