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southern Iran near the Persian Gulf, where a deep water port is also being constructed. While Iran currently produces slightly over 400,000 tonnes/yr of aluminium at two plants, consumption is around 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes/yr, Amir Mirchi, managing director of Canadian consultancy Auryce, which is advising Salco, told the news agency.
9.1.9 Renewable energy sector news
Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI), has said Iran’s first nuclear power plant in the southern port of Bushehr has been operating with an annual output of 1000MW, Mehr News Agency reported on June 11.
Construction of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant started as far back as 1975 under Iran’s last Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, with US and German contractors involved. Salehi reportedly said that that the nuclear plant produced 1,000MW for two years before being switched off in recent months for a “fuel change.” Iran and Russia have begun construction of the second Bushehr nuclear reactor , expected to generate an additional 1,000MW per year when completed in 2020.
The head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, predicts energy consumption in Iran will increase by 30% by 2040, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported on April 28. Iran has diversified its mix of energy generation suppliers in recent years. They now include nuclear, solar, gas and hydroelectric dam operators. Solar energy accounts for an increasingly large part of the country’s power production, with Iran highly suitable for solar ventures as it enjoys more than 320 sunny days per year on average. Moving onto the benefits of developing Iran’s oldest nuclear power plant partially built before the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Salehi observed that the facility produces 1,000 megawatts of power annually. He added that the nuclear share of the power generation mix currently stands at 1.3% of capacity and 2.3% of power generation. Salehi also noted that it would take 45mn barrels of crude oil to generate this amount of power.
9.2 Major corporate news 9.2.1 Oil & gas corporate news
The CEO of Austrian oil, gas and petrochemicals group OMV, Rainer Seele, on June 15 told Reuters that his company was planning to pull out of Iran after concluding a seismic studies project.
“Let’s face it, you cannot simply carry on in Iran,” he reportedly said. “US sanctions are a much bigger risk for OMV’s business than any possible compensation that Europe... could offer.”
In early May, US President Donald Trump announced he was unilaterally pulling Washington out of the 2015 nuclear deal and re-imposing the “highest level of sanctions” on Iran. Foreign companies that continue to do business with the Islamic Republic will be exposed to secondary sanctions. The EU’s major powers have pledged to work on protecting such countries from US action but to date l ittle has been announced .
The sanctions are to include a universal ban on Iran buying or acquiring US dollars and restrictions on purchases of Iranian crude oil.
OMV started operations in Iran in 2001 as operator of the Mehr exploration
41 IRAN Country Report July 2018 www.intellinews.com