Germany plans to invest some $194m in a project to build a solar cell and panel factory in Iran, an official told press, Renewables SeeNews reported citing local media. Construction work on the facility in the Payam Special Economic Zone, Albroz province, is expected to begin in May 2016.
As Bloomberg wrote earlier, with economic sanctions against Iran lifted, German solar firms have a huge sales opportunity. In fact, Iran has reinstated 20-year power purchase agreements and set feed-in-tariffs at “highly profitable” rates of some $0.33 per kWh, according to a report conducted by BSW Solar, a Berlin-based industry group, funded by the German Foreign Office. Nevertheless, so far most solar panels currently deployed in Iran are Chinese-made.
Last November, Clean Technica reported that the Iranian Energy Ministry signed a deal with a German company to build 1,250 MW of solar power plants in the country. While not naming the company, it stated that under the deal, 500 MW of solar projects will be built in Tehran province — including 150 MW in Kahrizak, 200 MW in Varamin, and 150 MW in Malard. The additional 750 MW plants will be constructed in the central Isfahan and north-western Tabriz regions.
