South African Firm to Build 10 MW Solar Plant in Iran

EghtesadOnline: A South African solar power developer has joined the growing list of international companies investing in Iran's renewable ventures.

News ID: ۷۸۰۰۷۷

25 October 2017

Phelan Energy Group will spend €14 million ($16.4 million) to build a 10-megawatt solar plant in the city of Khusf, South Khorasan Province, IRNA reported.

“The photovoltaic power plant is planned to be built by Phelan Energy Group in four months,” Mohammad Shafiei, the governor of Khusf, was quoted as saying on the sidelines of the project's groundbreaking ceremony on Monday. Speaking on the government's incentives to expand renewable energy production capacity, Shafiei pointed to 13-year tax exemption plan for renewable ventures as well as a budget of around $1.5 billion, according to Financial Tribune.

Paschal Phelan, the managing director of the foreign PV producer, also said that following the completion of the project, the company will implement a similar project in the city of Sarbisheh in South Khorasan, Tasnim News Agency reported.

“Phelan Energy Group aims to install 200 MW of solar power plants per annum in Iran,” Phelan said, adding that Iran has the potential to generate 25% of its power demand from solar energy by 2022. Established in 2005, Phelan Energy Group is a leading international developer and innovator in the renewable energy sector.

According to the company’s website, it exclusively focuses on investments in large solar plants, ranging from 10 MW to 200 MW. It has built a 175-MW solar farm in De Aar, South Africa, which is said to be the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, Africa and the Middle East.

The deal comes shortly after Norway’s Saga Energy signed struck a preliminary deal worth €2.5 billion ($2.94 billion) with Iran’s state-owned Amin Energy Developers in Tehran to build solar power plants in Iran.