Serious signs indicating Iran opening up

Iran says it has started talks with global engineering giants Siemens and Rolls-Royce over power projects – a development that experts say show the country is gradually opening up to investors after the removal of the sanctions. 

The Financial Times has quoted Iran’s Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian as saying that the talks with the companies were carried out when he was in London last week.

Chitchian has also emphasized that he expected to “reach a result” soon.

Siemens and Rolls-Royce were heavily engaged in various industries in Iran, specifically in the oil sector, before the US-engineered sanctions barred foreign investments in the country. 

Both have confirmed to the Financial Times that Chitchian had discussed the so-called decentralized power generators with them.  The generators, the daily added, can provide more localized and flexible supplies of electricity than big power stations.

“The minister requested a meeting with Rolls-Royce to discuss the renewal of Iran’s energy infrastructure and whether our diesel and gas power generation systems have a role to play,” Rolls-Royce has been quoted by the Financial Times to have announced in a statement.

“We have a close dialogue with the Iranian government and local partners in the area of infrastructure, energy and technology. We have been active in Iran for about 150 years … and we have never left the country,” the daily has also quoted a statement by Siemens as saying.  

Any deals would add to a provisional licensing agreement in March to allow Mapna Group, an Iranian energy and infrastructure conglomerate, to manufacture Siemens’ F-class turbines in Iran for use in gas-fired power stations, the daily added.

Chitchian has been further quoted as saying that Iran has received various proposals for investments in its power sector.  He has acknowledged that some problems still remain particularly those relating to the banking issues, emphasizing, nevertheless, that “the trend is positive”.   

The Iranian minister has elsewhere emphasized that Iran will give a special attention to the companies that approach Iran’s investment opportunities faster than others.  

 “Those companies and countries that can immediately adapt to the new situation will be the winners,” he has been quoted as saying.

Iran needs investment to modernize and expand its power network to ensure the country has enough electricity to support economic growth, the Financial Times added.

It plans to add 26,500 megawatts of generating capacity in the next five years on top of the current 75,000MW, according to Chitchian. Almost a fifth of the new capacity will come from renewable sources such as wind turbines as part of carbon-reduction commitments at the UN climate talks in Paris last year, the daily concluded.

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