A ceremony attended by the Minister of Energy, Abbas Ali-Abadi; senior officials from the Ministry; provincial authorities; and the CEO of MAPNA Combined Cycle Power Plants Construction and Development Company (MD-2) was held on Thursday, September 25, 2025, to mark the commissioning of this new unit.
The project aims to provide sustainable energy, address power shortfalls across the country, and promote economic growth in Lorestan.
The Khorramabad plant, developed by Khorramabad Power Generation Company with backing from MAPNA Group, achieved synchronization of this third gas unit with the national grid in late June. Its launch follows the financial closing in January 2025. The project proceeded under challenging economic and external circumstances.
With the new unit’s operation, about 20 % of Lorestan’s electricity needs are now met by this plant, raising its total capacity to nearly 700 MW—enough to supply roughly 70 % of the province’s demand.
Till date, MAPNA MD-2 has built 128 power plant units across Iran, with an overall capacity exceeding 20,196 MW.
Minister hails capacity of engineers
Addressing the ceremony, Energy Minister Ali-Abadi said the ministry supports investment in the electricity and water sectors, thanking all who helped build the Khorramabad power plant.
He emphasized that a comprehensive plan is in place so “the share of renewables in the country’s power supply will increase.” He also noted that international institutions “insist that passage through the Fourth Industrial Revolution is not possible except via renewables.”
He added that current heat and drought conditions are a result of excessive fossil fuel consumption and widespread gasoline use, factors contributing to the crisis.
He stressed that the Ministry’s mission has always been “to provide the country’s electricity using modern technologies.”
He said efforts will continue so “the electricity economy becomes organized and the business environment more attractive.”
He also noted that the recent unit was built in just five months—a record. He added that after the Khorramabad unit, the Neka plant set a record with four months and ten days, and expressed hope that a future record might be three months. “These successes show the capacity and ability of the country’s engineers.”
Construction of 4th unit set to begin
Abutaleb Niazi, CEO of MAPNA MD-2, noted that work on this unit began last winter when the turbine arrived, and “in the shortest time, about five months, and while we were facing major challenges in the country’s difficult peripheral conditions, the project proceeded without any interruption and was successfully synchronized.”
“This 183 MW unit covers about 20 % of the province’s demand. With the launch of this unit, the plant’s production capacity has approached 700 MW, which practically supplies about 70 % of the 1,000 MW demand of the province,” he said
He also said that temporary delivery of this unit was given with the employer’s consent, and “based on that, today it was announced that work on unit four will also begin and it will enter operation before next year’s peak demand.”
He pointed out the unit uses MAPNA-manufactured equipment: turbine, generator and control system. He said for the first time the MAPCS control system was used with ABB equipment in the field of synchronized excitation system and was successfully implemented.
Niazi also said that about 600 people were employed directly during the construction.
He noted that now the unit has been provisionally delivered and is supplying power to the national grid. In closing, he said that the project investor, Steel South Kaveh Kish Company, “with full satisfaction from the unit’s performance, has also invested in constructing the fourth unit.
The plant is 10 kilometers from Khorramabad city, in Lorestan Province.
