Iran to Begin Work at €1.4bn Russian-financed Power Plant

Iran is set to begin construction of a 1.4GW thermal power plant near the Strait of Hormuz after agreeing a loan from Russia.

The news was announced by Reza Ardakania, Iran’s energy minister. He said Russia would provide €1.2bn, or 85% of the cost of the Sirik plant, with the remainder to come from Iran’s Bank of Industry and Mines.

The news that Russia would finance and build the plant emerged in November, but the loan was given as €1.4bn and no date for breaking ground was mentioned.

The plant will be built on 200ha of land near the small coastal town of Sirik in Hormozgan Province over the next five to six years. The contractor will be Power Machines, a Saint Petersburg-based engineering company.

Another Russian contractor, Technopromexport, was to have begun work on the project in February 2017, but the project stalled owing to “administrative and funding problems from the Russian side”, according to Iranian media reports.