TEHRAN - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani inaugurated three major energy projects valued at €4.7 billion via video conference on Monday, on the occasion of the Government Week (August 23-29), Shana reported.

As reported, the said projects included Phase 1 of Bushehr Petrochemical Plant, lines 9 and 6 of the national gas network, and the West Karoun Oil Cluster power plant.

Bushehr Petchem Complex

With a total investment of €1.322 billion, Phase 1 of Bushehr Petrochemical Plant is aimed at producing four million tons of various petrochemical products annually.

This phase will receive 9.6 million cubic meters (mcm) of sour gas from the South Pars Complex fourth refinery (refinery of phases 6, 7, and 8).

It is going to produce 1.65 million tons of methanol, 1.323 million tons of methane, 850,000 tons of ethane, 130,000 tons of propane, 30,000 tons of butane, 3,000 tons of pentane as well as 125,000 tons of sulfur.

Ethylene, ethylene glycols, heavy polyethylene are planned to be produced in the second phase and acetic acid and vinyl acetate will be produced when the third phase of the complex is operational.

The plant is being developed in 70 hectares of land with the aim of producing 6 million tons per year of methanol, ethylene, ethylene glycols, heavy polyethylene, acetic acid, and vinyl acetate.

Construction operations on the project began in 2011.

National gas network lines

The major gas transmission project is expected to boost the gas transfer capacity of the national gas network by 110 million cubic meters per day.

The mentioned lines, together 1,850 kilometers long, entailing five pressure boosting stations, are extended from Assaluyeh, southern Iran, to Miandoab, northwest of the country.

These pipelines will make the National Iranian Gas Company enable to supply stable gas for exports to the western and northwestern neighbors of the country as the main customers of Iranian gas.

Iran currently exports gas to Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, and the operation of the pipeline will pave the way for increased exports and even new gas export contracts.

 West Karoun Power Plant

The third project that was inaugurated on Monday was a power plant and its ancillary facilities in the West Karoun region.

West Karun power plant, with 492 megawatts (MW) of capacity, has been constructed with the aim of providing electricity for the joint fields and oil facilities based in the region.

The power plant has been constructed by Iranian contractors under a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) deal, while the contract for the construction of ancillary facilities is Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC).

The plant is located 45 km southwest of Ahvaz, southwestern Iran, adjacent to the NGL3200 plant and was erected in a matter of five months.

It is worth mentioning that the inauguration ceremony was attended by senior officials from both Oil and Energy Ministry, including Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, and NIGC Head Behzad Mohammadi.

EF/MA