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Energy in Armenia

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  • Energy in Armenia

    This thread is to discuss all forms of energy produced, imported and exported in Armenia, whether it is renewable or not. Any ideas on what kind of direction Armenia should go with its energy production is welcome. For more information on Energy in Armenia, check this Wikipedia article.

    Let's start it off with some excellent news.
    ------------------------------------------------------------
    Armenia Opens New Thermal Power Plant


    YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–Armenia inaugurated on Wednesday a new thermal power plant that will allow it to considerably cut back on use of natural gas for electricity production.

    The state-of-the-art plant was built in Yerevan in place of an obsolete facility with a $247 million loan provided by the Japanese government through the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC). The long-term loan was disbursed to the Armenian government on concessional terms in 2007.

    With a capacity of 242 megawatts, its gas-powered turbine will be able to generate approximately one-quarter of Armenia’s current electricity output. Officials said it will also be twice as efficient as the plant’s decommissioned unit and four other Soviet-era facilities of its kind functioning in the central Armenian town of Hrazdan.

    According to Energy and Natural Resources Minister Armen Movsisian, this is the main reason why the domestic price of electricity will not increase this year despite the recent 17 percent rise in the cost of gas imported from Russia. Thermal power plants currently meet roughly one-third of Armenia’s electricity needs.

    “It was possible to keep electricity tariffs unchanged in 2010 because of the fact that this new plant will go into service on April 21,” Movsisian told journalists during the opening ceremony that was also attended by President Serzh Sarkisian.

    Movsisian described the new plant as the first major energy facility built in the country since independence. He said it will not only enable Armenia to economize on natural gas but also cut carbon emissions.

    Armenia’s energy sector will expand further after the ongoing construction of the Hrazdan plant’s new and even more powerful Fifth Unit. Russia’s Gazprom monopoly acquired the incomplete facility in 2006 as part of a complex agreement with the Yerevan government that raised its controlling stake in the Armenian gas distribution network to a commanding 80 percent. The Russian giant pledged to spend more than $200 million on finishing its protracted construction by 2011.

    The new Yerevan and Hrazdan facilities will pave the way for large-scale Armenian imports of natural gas from neighboring Iran through a pipeline constructed in late 2008. Armenia began receiving modest amounts of Iranian gas in May last year. With Russian gas essentially meeting its domestic needs, it is expected that the bulk of that gas will be converted into electricity and exported to the Islamic Republic.

    Movsisian revealed on Wednesday that his government would like to construct yet another thermal power plant in the coming years. “I hope that we will be able to build another plant of this kind which will boost the capacity of our energy system and have a greater effect on our economy,” he said.

    Armenia has had an electricity surplus ever since overcoming a severe energy crisis in the early and mid-1990s by reopening its Soviet-built nuclear power station at Metsamor nearly 15 years ago. Metsamor’s sole operating reactor produces over 40 percent of its electricity and is due to be shut down in 2017.

    The Armenian government plans to replace it by a modern, twice as powerful facility by that time. The Russian-designed reactor is due to be built by a Russian-Armenian joint-venture set up late last year.

    Azerbaboon: 9.000 Google hits and counting!

  • #2
    Re: Energy in Armenia

    Awesome thread and a great article. I think Armenia should try to concentrate and become economical independent as much as it can. And I heard something about some new way to use solar power using a satellite(receiving one not on in space) like device.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Energy in Armenia

      ARMENIANS FIGHT URANIUM MINE PLANS
      Gayane Mkrtchyan

      Institute for War and Peace Reporting IWPR
      July 13 2010
      UK

      Residents of southern region say life will be untenable if mining
      goes ahead.

      Residents of Armenia's southernmost region are threatening to block
      a major highway if the government presses ahead with uranium ore
      prospecting in the area.

      The hills around Lernadzor, 340 kilometres south of the capital
      Yerevan in the Syunik region, bordering on Iran, have been seen as
      a potentially rich source of radioactive ore since initial surveys
      were done in Soviet times.

      Exploration work is expected to continue until 2014, despite the fears
      of people living here that the drilling and any subsequent mining
      will contaminate ground water and pose a serious risk to human health.

      "We will block the sole road that connects Armenia to Iran," said
      Khosrov Harutyunyan, who leads one of several community groups that
      recently appealed to the government to halt the work. "We will lie
      down on the asphalt and we won't allow it to continue.

      "We are the ones who live in this region, and it is we who will have
      to suffer the consequences of this uranium," he said.

      The threat to blockade the highway is significant as it is one of
      only two land routes out of the country, because of Armenia's ongoing
      standoff with neighbouring Azerbaijan. The road south through Syunik
      to Iran is seen as a strategic lifeline at a time when the Armenian
      economy is already very weak.

      Environmentalists and local community members say they are prepared
      to take this drastic measure because the government is not taking
      their concerns seriously.

      "They might at least asked the residents of Lernadzor their opinion...

      It's our lives that are being put at risk," complained Rafik Petrosyan,
      a local resident.

      Community groups have held a number of meeting in Kapan, the regional
      centre, and last week sent a joint statement to the president,
      parliament and cabinet to voice their concerns. A petition calling
      for a halt to exploration has so far gathered around 7,000 signatures.

      "Any informed person will realise that you can't live here if there's
      uranium mining going on, because it will put your own life and that
      of future generations at risk," said Vladik Martirosyan, the head of
      Khustup, an environmental group in Kapan.

      Armenia has few other natural resources, and the authorities sees the
      possibility of exporting uranium to states with nuclear industries as
      a valuable opportunity, for geopolitical as well as economic reasons.

      "Uranium is a good source of income as it's the only natural resource
      whose price has gone up twenty-fold in the last few years," Energy
      and Natural Resources Minister Armen Movsisyan said.

      Armenia has one nuclear power station, but any ore extracted around
      Lernadzor will go to Russia for enrichment. The exploration work
      is being carried out by the Armenian-Russian Geological Company,
      a joint venture between the government and the Russian state-owned
      nuclear energy company Rosatom.

      Movsisyan insisted that were mining to go ahead, modern technology
      would eliminate safety risks, while radiation would only be an issue
      at the enrichment stage in Russia.

      He said the initial exploration project posed no dangers, and accused
      the media and community groups of overreacting.

      "At the moment all that's being done is a survey of the area," he
      said. "First we have to assess whether there's evidence of uranium
      ore deposits in the area, and then we'll need to do prospecting to
      find out whether the uranium is actually there."

      Hakob Sanasaryan, a prominent Green activist in Armenia, argues that
      Armenia is too small to accommodate a uranium mining industry.

      "It would be an ecological disaster in a country that covers an area
      of only 29,000 to 30,000 square kilometres. You can't open up all
      the deposits in such a small country," he said.

      In Syunik region, Martirosyan said he hoped the dispute would be
      resolved without residents having to carry out their threat, but
      warned, "If they don't take our opinion into account, if they go
      against our will, then we will cut the road."

      Gayane Mkrtchyan is a correspondent for the online publication
      ArmeniaNow.
      Hayastan or Bust.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Energy in Armenia

        New Armenian Power Plant Set For Launch


        Armenia -- A thermal power plant in Hrazdan.
        21.12.2010
        Emil Danielyan

        The Armenian government announced on Tuesday the impending end of the two-decade-long construction of a new major thermal-power plant located in the central town of Hrazdan.

        Energy and Natural Resources Minister Armen Movsisian said the Fifth Block of the Hrazdan power plant owned by Russia’s Gazprom energy conglomerate will go on stream by next April.

        Movsisian said that work on the facility is essentially complete and that its inauguration was deliberately delayed until after this winter. “Since we don’t know just how cold the winter will be, this could create some difficulties,” he told reporters.

        The construction work began in the late 1980s and ground to a halt following the Soviet collapse. The government tried unsuccessfully to finish it in the late 1990s.

        Gazprom acquired the incomplete facility in 2006 as part of a complex agreement with Yerevan that also raised its controlling stake in Armenia’s gas distribution network. The Russians pledged to spend more than $200 million on completing the protracted construction by 2011.

        The Fifth Block will be more powerful and efficient than the four other operating units of the Hrazdan plant that are owned by another Russian energy giant, RAO Unified Energy Systems (UES). Its launch will thus significantly boost Armenia’s power generating capacity.

        The Armenian government already inaugurated last April another state-of-the-art plant that was built in Yerevan in place of an obsolete facility with a $247 million loan provided by a Japanese development bank. The long-term loan was disbursed to the Armenian government on concessional terms in 2007.

        The new gas-powered plants should pave the way for large-scale Armenian imports of natural gas from neighboring Iran through a pipeline constructed in late 2008. Armenia began receiving modest amounts of Iranian gas in May last year. With Russian gas essentially meeting its domestic needs, the bulk of that gas is due to be converted into electricity and exported to the Islamic Republic.

        The Armenian energy sector has had a surplus capacity ever since emerging from a severe post-Soviet crisis in the mid-1990s thanks to the reopening of the nuclear power station at Metsamor. The plant’s sole operating reactor accounts for about 40 percent of Armenian electricity production.

        The Armenian government announced on Tuesday the impending end of the two-decade-long construction of a new major thermal-power plant located in the central town of Hrazdan.
        Azerbaboon: 9.000 Google hits and counting!

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Energy in Armenia

          May? It's a must! Potentially the most important economic project for Armenia to develop. In an energy hungry region, Armenia must be self-sufficient and an exporter.
          ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

          Armenia may increase level of energy produced by renewable sources

          June 25, 2011 | 14:26

          YEREVAN.- Armenia may increase the level of energy produced by renewable sources 5 times by 2020, said director of Renewable Energy Fund Tamara Babayan.

          For the first time in Armenia a program-guideline for development of renewable energy was elaborated with the participation of experts from Armenia and Europe.

          According to Babayan, small hydro power projects, solar water heaters, wind mills and heat pumps, will have great potential in the near future.

          Construction of small hydropower plants has been launched in Armenia since 2004. Overall 130 licenses were given for the construction of small hydropower plants.

          The program indicates development of renewable energy is hampered by difficulties in obtaining permissions, as well as lack of tax concessions.

          Azerbaboon: 9.000 Google hits and counting!

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Energy in Armenia

            Can anybody tell me why they insist on building the new NPP in the same place as the original and thus extremely close to Yerevan? Put it in the middle of nowhere man.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Energy in Armenia

              Originally posted by Muhaha View Post
              Can anybody tell me why they insist on building the new NPP in the same place as the original and thus extremely close to Yerevan? Put it in the middle of nowhere man.
              Tell me about it. I think they are gambling that this new NPP will be state-of-the-art and anti-earthquake measures will be taken to the fullest. Still not a wise idea, it's relatively close to the Turkish border...
              Azerbaboon: 9.000 Google hits and counting!

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Energy in Armenia

                Untapped resource: Specialists call renewable energy way to go for Armenia

                Using the vast resources of renewable energy that Armenia has will in the future enable the country to satisfy its electricity demand by up to 30 percent, according to specialists.

                “An effective use of renewable energy resources has become an urgent matter in our country that lacks natural fuel resources. The use of renewable energy means the country’s energy security, as well as a considerable rise in the degree of its energy independence,” says Tamara Babayan, director of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Foundation of Armenia.

                Presenting the work done in recent years and the results of studies, Babayan says: “Who can say how much thermal energy is needed for the republic? There is no such statistics. Nevertheless, the highest threshold set by us to be achieved in 2020 is very lower compared to Armenia’s technical potential and is quite realizable. This is not a guess, we are realistic.”

                The project being implemented by the Foundation has been funded by the World Bank and the government of Armenia since 2006.

                “The package of the program actually consists of 20 small projects in different fields of renewable energy, such as small hydropower, hydro-accumulation stations, bioethanol production, geothermal and solar energy. As part of the projects, in 2007-2010, 26 small hydropower plants were constructed, of which 24 are already in use,” says Foundation Project Manager Arayik Marjanyan.

                In the near future there are plans to organize meetings with structures concerned as well as with potential investors in different provinces in order to present the potential of renewable energy in particular areas.

                The Foundation has developed two financing mechanisms for energy efficiency-heating and renewable energy projects. The renewable energy financing package consists of three sources of funding: the Foundation itself (U.S. $5 million), the EBRD (U.S. $7 million) and the Cascade Credit Holding (U.S. $3 million). The legal successor of the latter is Ameriabank, which is responsible for the entire financial package.

                Azerbaboon: 9.000 Google hits and counting!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Energy in Armenia

                  ^^^

                  Good to see this. Given our circumstances we need to be more self-sufficient, esp in terms of energy.
                  Մեկ Ազգ, Մեկ Մշակույթ
                  ---
                  "Western Assimilation is the greatest threat to the Armenian nation since the Armenian Genocide."

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Energy in Armenia

                    A country that is self sufficient in both energy and food production is leaps and bounds ahead of those which are not.
                    For the first time in more than 600 years, Armenia is free and independent, and we are therefore obligated
                    to place our national interests ahead of our personal gains or aspirations.



                    http://www.armenianhighland.com/main.html

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