Russian VEB to Finance $1.4bn Plant in Iran

Russia’s state-run Vnesheconombank (VEB) signed an agreement with Iran’s government-owned Bank of Industry and Mines (BIM) for a loan to help build a €1.2 ($1.4bn) gas-fired 1.4-GW power plant, Sirik, in Hormozgan province, south of Iran, BIM’s official website reported.

An informed source told NGW that the repayment period of the loan would be five years at 2.77% interest rate without governmental guarantee.

The source added that VEB will finance 85% of the volume and Technopromexport, which is 51% owned by state-run Rostec and 49% by Yevgeni Giner – the president of football club CSKA – would develop the project. Local funds will cover the rest and Iranian companies willl provide a little under a third of the equipment and materials. VEB did not reply to NGW's request for further details by press time nor was the loan mentioned on its website.

Iran and  Technopromexport agreed in February to start building the Sirik power plant, whose efficiency will be a low 45%. The plant includes four 350-MW units, the first of which will be synchronised with the grid in 44 months, according to Iran's holding company for thermal power plants.

The Russian government promised last year to issue $2bn loan for power plants and to electrify a railway from Garmsar in eastern Tehran to Ince-Burun in the northeast. Technopromexport has also been in talks with Iran on building three other power plants: two in Tabas, with a combined 630 MW capacity; and Tabriz (1.4GW). Tabas is in the northeast and Tabriz in the northwest.

According to the latest weekly report of energy ministry, Iran’s installed power generation capacity is 77.037 GW as of September 1. Iran plans to increase this to 100 GW by 2021 and to 125 GW by 2025.

Dalga Khatinoglu