German engineering giant Siemens will cooperate to expand Bandar Abbas Thermal Power Plant in the southern Hormozgan Province, managing director of Hormozgan Power Generation Management Company said.
Underscoring that the power plant’s development plan has been finalized, Bahman Niki also told IRNA, “Siemens, which was forced to suspend cooperation with Iran under the sanctions regime, will resume collaboration.”
Siemens is a global powerhouse focusing on electrification, automation and digitalization. One of the world’s largest producers of energy-efficient and resource-saving technologies, Siemens is a leading supplier of systems for power generation and transmission.
Niki noted that the equipment for expanding the power plant have been purchased and some of them have been received by the company.
“The development plan encompasses a combined-cycle block, which itself has two gas units and a steam one, producing collectively 900 megawatts of electricity,” he said.
The official added that the combined-cycle units will employ F-class turbines for the first time in the country.
"The new units’ higher efficiency is their main advantage over older ones," he said, stressing that the former combined-cycle units had 25-30% efficiency, while F-class turbines enable the units to operate at up to 58% efficiency.
With the launch of the new block, Bandar Abbas Thermal Power Plant’s total production capacity will reach close to 2,300 MW.
----- Past Developments
The lifting of international sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear activities in January has removed many barriers to foreign investment and collaboration with the country, with its power sector being one of the areas of greatest interest.
Siemens told AFP in March it has signed a far-reaching agreement with Iranian group MAPNA to help modernize Iran's energy infrastructure.
As part of the agreement, MAPNA would acquire the knowhow to manufacture Siemens F-class gas turbines in Iran and the parties would cooperate to deliver more than 20 turbines and associated generators over the next decade.
Siemens and MAPNA had signed a memorandum of understanding earlier in January "to jointly develop the roadmap for the extension and optimization of the Iranian power and electrification system", the German company said in a statement.
"As a first project under the license agreement, both companies signed a contract for the Bandar Abbas Power Plant for which Siemens will deliver two F-class gas turbines and generators. The first unit will be shipped to Iran shortly," the statement said.
One month later, the first batch of high-tech turbines and compressors blocked by the company due to sanctions was released and unloaded at Asalouyeh, Bushehr Province, to be used in South Pars Gas Field’s phases 17 and 18.
Iran's sixth five-year development plan (2016-21) entails a 5,000-MW rise in power production capacity annually, which currently stands at 75,000 MW.
