Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian virtually inaugurated the first phase of the Aftab Shargh Solar Power Plant at Mobarakeh Steel Company in Isfahan on Thursday.
Iran’s minister of industries Mohammad Atabak and senior local officials attended a ceremony in Kuhpayeh, in the east of the province of Isfahan, to inaugurate the facility.
Aftab Shargh (meaning Sunlight of the East in Persian) will become Iran’s largest and most technologically advanced solar power plant when it reaches a full electricity generation capacity of 600 MW by March 2027.
The power plant has been built by Mobarakeh Steel Company, the largest steel maker in the West Asia region. A report by the ISNA news agency said the company had provided some 305 million euros in funding for the project.
The report said the power plant had created 3,000 jobs for local people during its construction period, adding that the facility will employ 70 people on a permanent basis after the launch of its first phase.
The province of Isfahan, which is one of the most industrial regions in Iran, has emerged as a key player in Iran’s plans to increase its renewable electricity generation capacity by 30,000 MW in the next four years.
The province currently has 240 MW of solar farms and plans to expand them by more than 470 MW by February.
Local authorities said Isfahan plans to meet a target of 5,300 MW of solar capacity by 2029 which will account for nearly a third of Iran's total solar capacity at that time.
