TEHRAN – The Russian contractor approved for the implementation of Iran's Sirik Power Plant project in southern Hormozgan Province is going to begin working on the project in near future, an official with the Thermal Power Plant Holding (TPPH) said.

“The project will soon start using a government loan from the Russian Federation,” Iran’s Energy Ministry portal (Paven) quoted Director of TPPH Steam Power Plant Projects Behnam Khaefi-Nejad as saying.

Following the introduction of a new contractor by the Russian Ministry of Energy for the construction of the 1400 MW Sirik power plant, contract negotiations with the company began at the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 19) and after holding 90 meetings between the two sides finally the deal was signed, Khaefi-Nejad explained.

According to the official, after the finalization of the contract with the presence of representatives of the employer, consultant, and representatives of the Ministry of Energy of Russia and Iran, the project site with an area of approximately 200 hectares was handed over to the new contractor.

Emphasizing that the first phase of the project’s studies is currently completed and the second phase of studies is on the agenda, he said: "According to the plan, after obtaining the final approval from the Russian Ministry of Finance and subsequently opening the project LC, executive operations of the project will begin.”

The funding required for the implementation of this project amounts to 1.4 billion euros, which will be provided from a loan granted by the Government of the Russian Federation to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Khaefi-Nejad added.

In the end, he noted that all the executive operations of this project will be done by Iranian contractors, and in the equipment supply section, the contractor will also benefit from domestic manufacturers.

Back in September, Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian said Russia has changed the contractor that was supposed to work on the Sirik power plant and the new contractor is going to start working on the project in the coming weeks.

Iran had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Russian Company Technopromexport for implementing the 1,400-megawatt power plant project in August 2016, and the Russian side pledged to invest up to €1.2 billion in the project.

The construction of the mentioned thermal power plant started in February 2017, however, it came to a halt due to some administrative and funding problems from the Russian side.

EF/MA