TEHRAN, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Iran started the construction of a 10-megawatt solar power plant in Qeshm Island, the first photovoltaic power station on the Persian Gulf island, Financial Tribune daily reported on Saturday.
Hamidreza Momeni, managing director of Qeshm Free Trade Zone, said on the sidelines of the ceremony for the project that the plant will be built in an area of about 150,000 sq. meters in Tula industrial town on Qeshm Island.
A domestic energy company will carry out the project in two phases, employing Italian and German technology, Momeni said.
The first phase of the project, which requires about 2.6 million U.S. dollars in investment, is planned to go on stream in one year, he said.
Iran is a strong market for renewable power projects, ex-energy minister, Hamid Chitchian, said, adding that "Foreign investors have submitted investment proposals worth a total of 3.6 billion U.S. dollars to develop renewable projects in Iran."
The Switzerland-based firm Durion Energy AG, in collaboration with Germany's Adore GmbH, has developed Iran's Mokran solar complex in Sistan-Baluchestan Province.
According to Mahmoud Dashtbozorg, the managing director of Khuzestan Regional Electricity Company, a German company will also invest 82 million U.S. dollars to build a wind farm in Arvand Free Trade Zone with the help of its Iranian partner, Tose'eh Zist Arvand Investment Company.
