Russian Co. to Build Thermal Power Plant in Hormozgan

The Thermal Power Plants Holding Company of Iran and Russia’s Technopromexport signed a deal worth $1.6 billion for the construction of a 1,400 megawatt thermal power plant in southern Hormozgan Province.

The signing ceremony in Tehran on Tuesday was attended by Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian and his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak, IRNA reported.

"The deal is the fruit of months-long negotiations between Tehran and Moscow," Novak said, noting that the Russian Federation will finance 85% of the project over five years.

The power plant which comprises four units, each with a capacity to produce 350 MW, will be built between Minab and the port city of Jask in Hormozgan.

Late last year, Iran signed three preliminary agreements with Russia, including the construction of the 1,400 MW power plant along with a water treatment unit near the site of the power plant with a daily treatment capacity of 200,000 cubic meters.

Calling for improvement in banking relations, Novak added that Russia is able and willing to fund other power initiatives in Iran.

Asked about the prospects of undertaking other electricity plans, he said, "Negotiations are underway to build hydro-power plants that have not been finalized yet."

Russia has also signed a deal to help build the second and third units of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant over 10 years. The nuclear plants are projected to cost more than $10 billion.

The second reactor is slated to become operational in October 2024 and the third by April 2026, according to Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation.

Iran's only nuclear plant officially went on stream in September 2011 and reportedly reached full capacity in mid-2014.

---- Ongoing Projects

According to Mohsen Tarztalab, TPPHC's managing director, the company has been tasked by the Resistance Economy Headquarters—a top government economic advisory body—to build power plants worth $8.5 billion for producing 30,000 MW of electricity in the long-term.

“Around 1,800 MW in new electricity production capacity is planned to be added to the national power grid by the end of the current fiscal year (March 2017), of which 1,040 MW is already in the grid,” he added.  

On the development of Parand Power Plant near Tehran, he said transformation of the power plant from a conventional unit into a combined-cycle one is scheduled to be completed by next March unless financial constraints impede the work.

Tarztalab added that operational works for Maku Power Plant Project in the eponymous trade zone in West Azerbaijan Province as well as Qeshm 2 and Bandar Abbas power plants in Hormozgan Province and Lamerd in Fars Province are underway.

Kahnuj Combined Cycle Power Plant in Kerman Province, Mahshahr Power Plant in Khuzestan Province and Gol Gohar Combined-Cycle Power Plant in the city of Sirjan in Kerman Province have added 2,500 MW of electricity to the national power grid.

Almost 62,000 MW, or 80% of Iran’s 75,000-MW output, is generated from thermal plants that burn fossil fuels. In addition, 12,000 MW comes from hydroelectric plants and 1,000 MW from the sole nuclear power plant in Bushehr.