Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 21
Trend:
Iran's energy and infrastructure conglomerate MAPNA signed a memorandum of understanding with the Parsian Special Economic Energy Zone to build a major power plant in the energy hub located in the southern Hormozgan Province in the Persian Gulf.
The initial agreement was signed between MAPNA's director for oil and gas, Mojtaba Gharavi, and Hassan Shahrokhi, the zone's managing director, according to a recent report by Mehr news agency.
Based on the terms of the agreement, MAPNA will construct a power plant with a capacity of 5,000 megawatts of electricity in the zone.
The Iranian giant will also looking at petrochemical investment opportunities in the Parsian Special Economic Energy Zone to produce petrochemical products, the report added.
Domestic and privately-owned companies in Iran have already pledged to spend up to $10 billion in Parsian zone which is emerging as a hub for petrochemical, steel and aluminum industries.
Parsian energy zone should not be confused with the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone (PSEEZ) southeast of Bushehr Province which is home to major oil, gas and petrochemical facilities.
The development of the energy zone is imperative to fulfilling Iran's wish to expand the petrochemical industry.
Parsian is planned to produce 4 million tons of steel as well as 1.2 million tons of aluminum annually, while power stations with installed capacity of 6,000 megawatts are to be built to meet the needs of the industries.
The energy and industrial zone will receive natural gas feedstock from the giant South Pars field in the Persian Gulf. The zone is aimed at stimulating economic growth in the region and produce higher value-added products from natural gas.
According to published reports, Iran holds the world's second-largest natural gas reserves after Russia.