Photo: IRNA
Iran and Russia have signed a $25 billion agreement to build four third-generation nuclear power plant units in Hormozgan Province in the south of the Islamic Republic.
The state-run IRNA news agency reported that the “megaproject” will consist of four units, each generating 1,255 megawatts, on a 500-hectare site near the city of Sirik. Preparatory work has already begun, though no details on a timeline have been provided.
The agreement was signed by Naser Mansour Sharifloo, executive director of Iran Hormoz, and Dmitry Shiganov, head of JSC Rosatom Energy Projects, in the presence of Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali. The ceremony took place in Moscow during the World Nuclear Week forum, which marked the 80th anniversary of Russia’s nuclear industry.
Iran expects the first unit to become operational by 2031, according to a report by the state-controlled Russian news agency RIA Novosti, citing a statement by Sharifloo. Plans to build the power plant in Hormozgan became known in February 2024, when the late Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi issued the corresponding order.
The units will become Iran's second nuclear project built with Russia’s participation. The Bushehr NPP, located near the city of Bushehr on the Persian Gulf coast, began supplying power to the grid in 2011 after Russia's state-owned nuclear energy corporation Rosatom stepped in to finish the facility, which had initially begun with German help all the way back in 1975. The construction of the second and third units of the Bushehr plant is currently underway.