Iran is promoting the Yazd Solar Thermal Power Plant (YSTPP) since 1994, when a  Joint  German-Iranian  Expert Group on Solar Thermal Power, sponsored by the  German  Federal  Ministry  of  Environment  and  the Iranian  Power  Development Company (IPDC), elaborated a concept study for a 100MW Solar Thermal Plant. In  1997,  IPDC  contracted  the  Electric  Power  Research Center (now named NIROO Research Institute), Pilkington Solar International and  Fichtner to execute a comprehensive feasibility study. A update was given by IPDC at the Berlin Conference on June 19-20. In 1996, IPDC contacted GEF to investigate the possibility of support. Of a number of sites, it determined Yazd to be preferred with 2511kWh/m²/yr DNI. Approximately 9km² of land has already been purchased by the Yazd utility. Water is limited and thus dry cooling was selected. Three older 64 MW gas turbines (KWU V93.1) and two new Alstom gas turbines (PG9171E) have already been installed and put into operation in 2000. A consultancy has been awarded to convert 2 GT’s into an ISCCS. The feasibility study showed an investment of $115M would result in an additional net electricity generation of 964 GWh/yr and upgrade the plant efficiency from 32.2 % to 50.2 %. The solar field, costing around $138M, would further improve annual average efficiency to 53.1 %.

Iran had approached GEF with a request to finance the incremental cost of the solar field. As GEF was not in the position to allocate any additional resources for this request, Iran, in 2005, has changed the plant configuration and now  intends to built a solar field, equivalent of about 20 MWe, to additionally power the envisaged upgrade of installed gas turbines to a 300 MW combined cycle plant.