MAPNA, Niroo to Manufacture Turbines

The Energy Ministry’s Niroo Research Institute and MAPNA Group on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding to manufacture F-class gas turbines for power plants.

Based on the MoU, the two sides will work in tandem to ease financing and transfer of knowhow for manufacturing advanced and highly efficient F-class turbines that are to be used in major power projects, Mehr News Agency reported.

Sattar Mahmoudi and Ali Akbar Mohajeri, deputy energy ministers, attended the signing ceremony.          

MAPNA is involved in a range of projects including oil and gas field development, onshore and offshore drilling services, construction of downstream processing units, auxiliary facilities, utility, storage tanks, as well as design and manufacturing of equipment such as turbo-compressors for transmission pipelines, refineries and processing units.

Niroo signed an agreement with MAPNA Turbine Engineering and Manufacturing Company (TUGA), one of the main subsidiaries of MAPNA, with the goal of technology development, design, production and performance testing of MGT-75 gas turbines.

Micro gas turbines (MGT) are small-scale turbines with power generation output of about 300 kilowatts or lower.

The two sides will also cooperate in transferring and localizing knowhow of F-class and more advanced turbines as well as the export of technical and engineering services related to MGT-75 model. The deal will be valid for 15 years, with the first five years allocated for research and development, and the remainder for commercializing the product.

Iran has turned to German energy giant Siemens to get up to speed with modern turbine manufacturing technologies. In March, an agreement was signed with German engineering giant Siemens to manufacture power equipment under its license in Parand, some 65 km southwest of Tehran.

The Munich-based engineering and manufacturing company is also to deliver more than 20 F-class turbines and share expertise in turbine manufacturing as part of Iran's push to upgrade its aging electricity infrastructure and build power plants with improved efficiency.