Fata, the engineering division of Italy’s Finmeccanica, has won the first contract placed with an Italian company in Iran since sanctions against the Islamic Republic were intensified in 2011.

The €500m ($548m) turnkey contract involves the construction of an 800MW combined-cycle power station in Bandar Abbas for Ghadir Energy Investment, the Tehran Stock Exchange-listed affiliate of Saderat Bank Iran, Fata’s Iran branch manager Franco Bergese told MEED on 9 August. The plant will supply power to industries in the Bandar Abbas area.

The agreement was signed in Tehran during a visit to Iran by an Italian trade mission led by Italy’s Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni and Italy’s Economic Development Minister Federica Guidi in the first week of August. An official accompanying the delegation described it as highly-successful. It was announced during the visit that Iran’s President Rouhani had agreed to visit Rome later in the summer.

Bergese said work on the project will get under way once EU and other international sanctions against Iran are lifted. He said Fata will place subcontracts with local companies. Bergese said he expected to benefit from support from Sace, the Italian export credit agency, which signed a cooperation agreement with the Organisation for Investment, Economic & Technical Assistance of Iran (OIETAI) and the Central Bank in Tehran during the visit on 4 August.