Press TV - Germany�s engineering giant Siemens is backing Iran in plans to launch power plants relying on modern gas turbines that would add some 5 gigawatts (GW) to the country�s electricity generation capacity.

A senior official at Iran�s Ministry of Energy said on Saturday that Siemens and Iran�s largest energy construction and engineering group Mapna had been�cooperating on building F-class gas turbines that would significantly boost efficiency at Iranian power plants.

Alireza Nasrollahi said Siemens and Mapna were working on F-class turbines in eight major locations across Iran, a project he said was worth around �2.2 billion.

Nasrollahi said a major batch of the turbines will come on line at Iran�s Hengam power plant, located in the southern province of Hormozgan, in February.

He said the launch of the first phase of Hengam power plant, a gas-fired unit with a capacity of 307 megawatts (MW), will mark the first time a government-run power plant�in Iran is using F-class gas turbines.

The official said the installation of all the turbines in the combined cycle 906-MW Hengam, where a second gas-fired unit will come on line before next summer, would cost around �500 million.

Siemens has been one of the longest-serving foreign companies in Iran with first activities dating back to more than 150 years ago.

The company, which has been a major contributor to Iran�s infrastructure projects over the past decades, was forced to downsize many of its projects in Iran after the United States imposed a series of unilateral sanctions on the country last year.

However, Iranian officials have hailed Siemens� commitment to joint venture schemes, including contracts on the transfer of technology, saying it is a sign the company is valuing its long history of presence in the country and shows that the Germans are keen to resume work in Iran once sanctions are lifted.