China Eximbank provides $64.1 million buyer’s credit loan for 100 MW Mollasadra Hydropower Station Project

Project narrative

On September 7, 2002, China Eximbank and Saderat Bank signed a $64,175,000 buyer’s credit loan agreement for the 100 MW Mollasadra Hydropower Station Project. The borrowing terms of the loan are unknown. The proceeds of the loan were used to finance 85% of the cost of a $75.5 million commercial (EPC) contract with China Gezhouba Group Company Limited. The Government of Iran initially signed a commercial contract in November 1999 with the MS-CAITEC joint venture formed by China Anhui International Economic and Technical Cooperation Corporation. However, China Gezhouba Group Company Limited later replaced MS-CAITEC as the EPC contractor. The purpose of the project was to build a 72-meter-high, 630-meter-long dam with a storage capacity of 440 million cubic meters, a (2x50MW) hydropower station with a total installed capacity of 100,000 kilowatts, and related auxiliary projects. More specifically, the project involved the construction of a rockfill dam, an open spillway, a power station diversion tunnel, a ground plant, and a switch station. The project site is located 184 kilometers northwest of Shiraz city, the capital of Fars Province, and is built on the Kore River near the town of Sedeh in Eqlid City. Construction began on September 7, 2002. The project was officially completed on April 17, 2007. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attended the project completion ceremony.