TEHRAN - Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian said on Wednesday that Iran’s Mapna Group has started construction of a major power plant in Syria’s Latakia, Press TV reported.

According to Ardakanian the construction of the 540-megawatts combined-cycle power plant is backed by the governments in Iran and Syria.

“This project is being executed through joint investment,” Ardakanian said.

Ardakanian called on Iranian companies to get involved in Syria’s plans for development in the electricity sector, saying that other countries are becoming increasingly interested in reconstruction plans in the Arab country.

The deal for construction of Latakia power plant was finalized in October 2018 when the Mapna group, the largest energy construction company in Iran, signed an agreement with Syrian authorities to build the power plant and the gas pipeline that feeds it.

Syrian authorities have also asked for Iran’s contribution to repair operations at a thermal power plant in Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city, while plans are in place to build a gas-fired power plant in the same city by Iranian companies.

A first phase of the Latakia power plant, a gas-fired unit, will come online in 18 months, according to a plan by Mapna which says another gas unit and a steam unit will take 24 and 34 months, respectively, to finish.

As part of the project, Mapna has committed to building a 70-kilometer pipeline to link Syria’s “own gas resources” to the power plant in Latakia.

Latakia, a key port city on the Mediterranean, has been less affected by years of war in Syria.

Damascus wants the city to become a model for reconstruction in other regions as the country is emerging from years of militancy and trying to rebuild the country devastated by the war.

EF/MA