The National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) has issued a tender for the establishment of local facilities to manufacture turbo-compressors for gas transmission pipelines. The tender announcement on 19 September sets a submission closing date of 26 September, but an NIGC official said on 20 September that the deadline is likely to be extended.

NIGC says the local facilities should be able to manufacture at least 50 turbo-compressors, each with a rating of 20-30 MW. Local content at the proposed facility would start at 15 per cent, rising eventually to 70 per cent.

Bidders will be entitled to quote higher prices for higher local content, NIGC says. Each percentage point increase in content can be matched by a 0.75 per cent increase in the price quoted, it says.

The facility is expected to produce at least $500 million worth of compressors, a European industry source says.

The project has been in discussion since early 2000, and several firms consider themselves to already have prequalified.

Companies planning to take part in further stages of tendering include Nuovo Pignone of Italy, Europe's ABB, the Swiss/German Sulzer, and MAN GHH and Demag, both of Germany.