TEHRAN -- Iran on Monday opened the tallest Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) dam in West Asia in a ceremony in the presence of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Gachsaran in southwest Iran.
The Chamshir Dam is 151 meters high and has a reservoir with a capacity of holding 2.3 billion cubic meters of water.
Construction of the dam started more than 10 years ago. The project is reported to have been built with €230 million of investment.
The dam’s hydroelectric power plant has three large units with a capacity of 55 megawatts (MW) each and two small environmental units with a capacity of 5.5 MW.
Chamshir Dam is located 25 km southeast of Gachsaran in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province. It is the fifth largest dam in Iran.
President Raisi also oversaw the launch of a petrochemical complex with the largest degree of reliance on home-grown industries.
The Gachsaran petrochemical complex, built with some $1.4 billion of investment, was inaugurated in the city of the same name.
Raisi said the Gachsaran petrochemical plant, which has mostly relied on the potentials of Iranian experts and companies, is a true example of Iran’s resistance in the face of U.S.-imposed sanctions.
Iran’s Minister of Petroleum Javad Owji said that over 83% of the project has been constructed by local companies and workforce, saving Iran more than 269 million euros in construction costs.
Owji said some 70 Iranian firms have contributed to the designing, building, and installing of vital equipment in the project.
The plant relies on 1.25 million tonnes per day of ethane gas as feedstock. The gas is supplied through a 90-kilometer pipeline from Bidboland gas refinery, located in the nearby Khuzestan region.