MAPNA President Mohammad Owliya said that the conglomerate will add 2,500 MW to the country’s grid by the end of the year while briefing Iranian media outlets about MAPNA’s activities.
Reporters from various media outlets attended a press conference on August 13, 2023, to get acquainted with the wide-ranging activities of MAPNA Group.
This was the first press conference of Mohammad Owliya after he was elected as the new president of the company in early July.
Addressing the press conference, Owliya tok the opportunity to commemorate the National Reporter’s Day and the 30th anniversary of MAPNA Group’s establishment on August 16.
He talked about the latest activities and achievements of the knowledge-based group in different industrial fields.
MAPNA Group is focused on developing the country’s strategic industries, such as the energy industry, which is vital for all other industries, he said, adding that the conglomerate follows the principles of “sustainability and balanced development” in its economic and environmental activities.
He said that by the end of this year, MAPNA Group will add 2,500 megawatts to the country’s grid through the completion of various power plants.
Since its establishment, MAPNA Group has done projects worth 3.5 billion euros outside the country, he said while providing some examples of MAPNA Group’s domestic and international activities.
“In the last four years, MAPNA Group has done power plant projects worth more than 800 million euros in different countries,” he said, adding that the conglomerate has also exported products, technical and engineering services, and power plants to countries like Iraq, Syria, Oman, Indonesia, Pakistan, and others, through various contracts. He noted that MAPNA Group has done or is doing many maintenance and repair projects in these countries.
“MAPNA Group has exported 35 large turbines so far,” he highlighted.
MAPNA Group has a vision for developing units with higher efficiency in the future, Owliya said. The conglomerate will continue to produce F-class units with different capacities in the future, he noted, adding, public and private clients in the industrial sector can rely on these projects in the future.
3,500-MW Power Project in Iraq
He said that MAPNA Group has implemented contracts for 3,500 MW of power in Iraq which shows the “competitive advantage” of the conglomerate in international projects. He also noted that proper funding of other plans by Iraqi authorities will accelerate the execution of projects.
“MAPNA Group has been working in all the nearby and neighboring countries for the last two decades, either building new power plants or providing services and parts. One of the most important projects that MAPNA Group has done is in Iraq. Since 2003, there was a good opportunity for power plant builders, and we used our different advantages in the power plant field to enter Iraq,” he said.
Asked about Iran’s potential to turn into a power hub in the region, he said that the realization of this depends on the “provision of infrastructure” which is partly the responsibility of the government.
“However, MAPNA Group’s international projects show that this milestone can be achieved.”
Efforts to Fix Power Imbalance in Iran
According to Owliya, MAPNA Group is working with the Ministry of Energy to fix the electricity imbalance in the country.
He said that MAPNA Group has put efforts in the past two years to address the imbalance in the country’s power production and consumption.
The conglomerate managed to add 1,200 and 3,000 MW to the country’s grid in the Iranian calendar years of 1400 (March 2021 – March 2022) and 1401 (March 2022 – March 2023).
As per the plans, the continued, 2,500 MW will also be added to the country’s capacity by the end of this year (March 2024).
He named some of the projects that will help achieve this aim such as a steam unit of Sabalan Power Plant, a trailer-mounted power plant in Tehran, and several wind farm units that will soon be launched.
Outstanding Payements and MAPNA’s Investments
Owliya also pointed to the significant volume of money that should be paid to the conglomerate by its clients but the payment has been delayed.
MAPNA Group should be paid 170 trillion tomans (roughly €3.2 billion) for various projects that it has carried out during the past years, he said, adding that a significant portion of this is the government’s debt to the group.
The lack of liquidity for funding is among the challenges that affect the progress of projects, he said.
The settlement of these debts will help MAPNA Group to start various projects while also improving the status and speed of ongoing ones, he stressed.
According to Owliya, the total amount of investment of this group is about €6.5 billion. He said that this investment is in different business sectors of MAPNA Group, such as power, oil and gas, rail transportation, renewable energy, water, health, electrification, and more.
He said that in investment projects, they have more than 13,000 megawatts of power plants, more than 71,000 cubic meters of desalinated water, and 115 megawatts of renewable energy.
MAPNA in Oil & Gas Sector
Referring to the conglomerate’s activities in the oil and gas sector, Owliya said that the Shurijeh gas reservoir project will continue as financial problems have been solved and negotiations on the provision of required equipment have been positive.
He also noted that the project of operation and maintenance of turbocompressors at the South Pars gas field will start within the next three years with MAPNA Neyr Perse spearheading the project.
‘Tangible Growth in Rail Sector’
The rail sector of MAPNA Group has experienced “tangible growth” in the past two decades in various realms such as manufacturing, constructing railways, and carrying out operation and maintenance, Owliya said.
After acquiring Wagon Pars, he continued, MAPNA Group managed to “revive” the company as it is now capable of producing 1,000 wagons every year. The company has inked several contracts for manufacturing various freight and passenger wagons and metro cars, he said, adding that a new contract has also been signed to supply cars to Isfahan metro.
Engines of passenger aircraft
Asked about MAPNA Group’s activities in the aviation sector, Owliya said that the conglomerate carries out maintenance services for engines of passenger aircraft by using parts that are produced domestically by its experts.
“MAPNA is not involved in manufacturing engines or airplanes,” he stressed.
“MAPNA Group uses the home-made parts in the overhaul of passenger planes’ engines after obtaining the international certificates and observing global standards.”
Electrification of Tehran
One of the reporters asked about MAPNA Group’s activities in the electrification sector and Mohammad Hossein Refan, CEO of MAPNA Electric & Control Engineering & Manufacturing Company (MECO), provided an answer.
“The field of electrification involves making cars, buses, and motorcycles run on electricity, as well as developing the infrastructure needed for them, such as chargers, batteries, hardware, and software based on international standards,” he said.
According to Refan, MAPNA is working on a new project in this field with the Ministry of Industry and Tehran Municipality to produce 500 e-buses. This contract is worth 7 thousand billion Tomans (roughly €132 million) and the conglomerate is negotiating two more contracts, he added.
“We have started the first phase of improving Tehran’s electrification infrastructure. We will build stations for charging electric vehicles and motorcycles in six or seven locations.” New companies will be created, merged, or split to support this sector, he said, adding that MAPNA Group eyes the success of this sector both for business reasons as well as environmental reasons.
