Chinese Government provides EUR 229 million loan for 130MW Chamshir Hydroelectric Dam and Power Plant Construction Project (Linked to Project ID#66882)

In 2017, an unidentified Chinese Government institution established an EUR 229 million line of credit for the 130MW Chamshir Hydroelectric Dam and Power Plant Construction Project. The funds were committed in order to support an EPC plus Financing (EPC+F) contractual arrangement (worth RMB 2.192 billion) between Iran Water and Power Resources Development Company (IWPCO) — an Iranian state-owned enterprise — and China Gezhouba Group Company Limited, which was finalized in 2009. Under most EPC+F contractual arrangements in Iran, a loan is extended to the EPC contractor but with a sovereign guarantee from the Iranian Government. The purpose of this project is to construct a dam and 130MW power plant on the Zohreh River near the town of Gachsaran within Kohgiloye and Boyer-Ahmad Province. The groundbreaking ceremony for this project took place on or around May 9, 2013. As of October 2020, the project had achieved an 85% completion rate. A separate EUR 148.37 million Chinese Government loan (captured in Project ID#66882) was issued for the Chamshir Irrigation and Drainage Network Project.

Additional details

1. The Persian project title is سد و نیروگاه چم شیر or سد چم‌شیر. The Chinese project title is 羌姆溪水电站 or 伊朗羌姆溪水电站项目. 2. A 3/13/17 Financial Tribune source identifies the size of the Chinese credit line as EUR 290 million. 3. In 2017, a Vice President of China Eximbank reported (see China’s EXIM Inks $1.5 bn High-Speed Rail Deal with Iran) that it had financed 26 electricity, petrochemical, oil and gas and nonferrous metal projects in Iran worth $9 billion. Therefore, China Eximbank is most likely the funder of this project. However, the source of project financing merits further investigation.

Number of official sources

11

Number of total sources

23