Iran Says Power Plant Deal in Progress With Turkish Co.

Tehran will not backpedal on an agreement with the Turkish energy company Unit International for the construction of seven power plants, Mohsen Tarztalab, the managing director of Iran's Thermal Power Plants Holding Company said.

"The deal (with Unit International) is irreversible. It was the first successful financing deal signed in the power sector after the lifting of international sanctions," Tarztalab told ISNA on Friday.

Unit International signed a $4.2 billion preliminary deal with the Energy Ministry in June to build gas power plants in seven regions in Iran, but the deal has yet to be finalized.

Tarztalab said the deal is still a work-in-progress, hoping that a final contract will be signed in the Iranian fiscal year that ends in March.

"Preliminary negotiations are over and we are in the process of obtaining the licenses" to finalize the power deal, Tarztalab said without elaboration.

Officials said last year that construction of the power stations, which will have a combined installed capacity of 6,020 megawatts, could begin in the first quarter of 2017.

The power plant deal with the Turks has apparently hit a snag since its signing more than six months ago as opponents of the agreement claim that Unit International’s main field of activity is hotel construction and that it has no experience in the construction of power plants.

In November, Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian slammed the objections as "baseless" and asserted that Unit International had built five large power plants in Iran during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

According to Bloomberg, Unit International owns and develops power generation assets in Turkey, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. It engages in engineering, procurement and construction projects for hydroelectric, natural gas, wind and biomass power plants.

source: Financial Tribune