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Turkish firm to build several natural gas power plants in Iran

A Turkish company wins a deal for the construction of natural gas power plants in Iran. (file photo of an Iranian gas power plant)

Turkey’s Unit International has sealed a multi-billion dollar deal with Iran for the construction of several natural gas power plants in the country.

The Turkish energy company has announced a $4.2 billion agreement with the Iranian Energy Ministry to build seven gas power plants in Iran.

It has said in a statement that the power stations will be built in seven separate regions of Iran and would have a combined installed capacity of 6,020 megawatts.

"Unit International has reached a deal with the Iranian Energy Ministry worth some $4.2 billion to build natural gas combined cycle power plants," the company said, adding that the agreement was signed at a ceremony in Tehran on June 1.

According to Reuters, Unit International owner Unal Aysal has said that when completed, the power plants would meet 10 percent of Iran's energy needs. Construction of the seven plants was planned to begin in the first quarter of 2017.

Iran sits on the world’s fourth-largest oil and second-largest gas reserves, and is among the world’s top 10 oil and top five natural gas producers.

Turkish companies have used the January removal of anti-Iran sanctions as a major opportunity to resume trade and investment in the country, where other sectors of economy such as auto, clothing, textiles, machinery and chemicals as well as tourism, among others, have been beckoning to international investors.

Back in March, former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said during a visit to Iran that the two countries could raise the volume of their trade to $30 billion.

Bilateral trade stood at $22 billion in 2014 before declining to $9 billion as a result of sanctions on Iran.

Iran is the Middle East’s biggest electricity producer with a capacity of 75,000 megawatt-hours. Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian has said the country planned to raise this to more than 120,000 MW within the next 10 years.

Iran also exports a good part of its electricity production and the Iranian minister recently announced the country’s readiness to join the European power grid.


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