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Re: Sevan
Armenia has two major autonomous energetic systems, independent, or partly independent from import needs.
1- Hydro Energy: it produces roughly 20% of the electricity.
2- Medzamor. (This is partly independent since you need to inport fuel bars from Russia at least once a year, and the station is supposed to stop in 2016 , and no replacement is yet financed): produces roughly 40% of electricity at its full capacity of 440 MW today.
Remaining 40-45 % is produced by Hydrocarbons: Gaz/Oil/fuel.
Now you must consider Electric Capacity installed, wich is rarely used at its max capacity full year.
Then you must consider reserves.
You can not stock reserves at Metzamor. It produces rather steady volume, when it works.
You can not stock solar energy, (inexistent today), nor wind energy (symbolic one test station in Pushkin Pass).
You can stock some Gaz in one major strategic underground facility, built in Apovian salt mines (max autonomy if Gaz import is stopped: less than 2 months).
You can stock fuel/Diezel: limited capacity installed, some capacities classified by army: you may use it for electricity or tanks....
You can stock water, if you have reservoirs, for Hydro power.
And we have one and unique major reservoir, that is Sevan.
If hydropower represents only 18-20% of annual production today (some important chunk is exported today, some officially, some in gray zone to Turkey, Georgia, and Iran), its installed capacity, at full , may be enough for 40-45% of national consumption.
We use it at minimal rate, to spare Sevan (when official policy is respected), and insure pic capacity during extra needs (winter cold, when Metzamor is closed, or when Gaz import stops).
That is while annually Hydro produces less than 20%, at one given moment, at its peak, you may have its proportion as high as 40%, or even more.
So, our only real domestic source is Hydro.
And hydro is divided in 2 major systems:
Sevan and Vorotan cascades.
The remaining capacities are are non relevant: hundreds of micro-stations: all together represent less than 5% , and virtually none have reservoirs built.
While the initial intention was noble, this turns now to a misuse of potentials, for cheap and quick investments, with state sponsored and garantyed income for oligarkhs and aparatchiks (worst exemple is the recent case of Dzoraget: we might had a 3 rth major cascade by building a big capacity reservoir, with a state sponsored project worth hundred of millions, instead a bunch of oligarkhs will install small stations, with no reservoir, small invest, big income..).
So you have Vorotan cascade, 3 major stations, and a medium size reservoir called Spantaryan; At its full capacity, the reservoir will not even last 2 months.
Easy to say, this is important, but not strategic.
And finally you have Sevan, with a cascade of 6 major stations.
At its full capacity, 550 MW (that is more than the Medzamor's actual 440 MW) and thanks to modernization of stations going on in last decade, only Sevan cascade can produce roughly 50% of the electricity consumed.
Each meter up in Sevan, is equivalent roughly to 1250 million M3 of water.
To compare, our bigest reservoir (put aside Akhuryan, under joint control of Ankara, and producing no electricity), that is Spantaryan reservoir is in full 218 m3 (actual capacities).
That is 1 meter up in Sevan is 5,7 times more that all of Spantaryan.
By now I think you have quite a good idea about capacities..
Now keep in mind, that once there is a war situation, you may pretty surely have blockade on energy imports.
So you may have to chose, between using you oil reserved on tanks, or generating electricity.
Last time we chose the first option, more or less.....and Sevan paid a huge price, by losing roughly 2 meters..
Should we repeat the same cold dark episode?
Originally posted by arakeretzig
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1- Hydro Energy: it produces roughly 20% of the electricity.
2- Medzamor. (This is partly independent since you need to inport fuel bars from Russia at least once a year, and the station is supposed to stop in 2016 , and no replacement is yet financed): produces roughly 40% of electricity at its full capacity of 440 MW today.
Remaining 40-45 % is produced by Hydrocarbons: Gaz/Oil/fuel.
Now you must consider Electric Capacity installed, wich is rarely used at its max capacity full year.
Then you must consider reserves.
You can not stock reserves at Metzamor. It produces rather steady volume, when it works.
You can not stock solar energy, (inexistent today), nor wind energy (symbolic one test station in Pushkin Pass).
You can stock some Gaz in one major strategic underground facility, built in Apovian salt mines (max autonomy if Gaz import is stopped: less than 2 months).
You can stock fuel/Diezel: limited capacity installed, some capacities classified by army: you may use it for electricity or tanks....
You can stock water, if you have reservoirs, for Hydro power.
And we have one and unique major reservoir, that is Sevan.
If hydropower represents only 18-20% of annual production today (some important chunk is exported today, some officially, some in gray zone to Turkey, Georgia, and Iran), its installed capacity, at full , may be enough for 40-45% of national consumption.
We use it at minimal rate, to spare Sevan (when official policy is respected), and insure pic capacity during extra needs (winter cold, when Metzamor is closed, or when Gaz import stops).
That is while annually Hydro produces less than 20%, at one given moment, at its peak, you may have its proportion as high as 40%, or even more.
So, our only real domestic source is Hydro.
And hydro is divided in 2 major systems:
Sevan and Vorotan cascades.
The remaining capacities are are non relevant: hundreds of micro-stations: all together represent less than 5% , and virtually none have reservoirs built.
While the initial intention was noble, this turns now to a misuse of potentials, for cheap and quick investments, with state sponsored and garantyed income for oligarkhs and aparatchiks (worst exemple is the recent case of Dzoraget: we might had a 3 rth major cascade by building a big capacity reservoir, with a state sponsored project worth hundred of millions, instead a bunch of oligarkhs will install small stations, with no reservoir, small invest, big income..).
So you have Vorotan cascade, 3 major stations, and a medium size reservoir called Spantaryan; At its full capacity, the reservoir will not even last 2 months.
Easy to say, this is important, but not strategic.
And finally you have Sevan, with a cascade of 6 major stations.
At its full capacity, 550 MW (that is more than the Medzamor's actual 440 MW) and thanks to modernization of stations going on in last decade, only Sevan cascade can produce roughly 50% of the electricity consumed.
Each meter up in Sevan, is equivalent roughly to 1250 million M3 of water.
To compare, our bigest reservoir (put aside Akhuryan, under joint control of Ankara, and producing no electricity), that is Spantaryan reservoir is in full 218 m3 (actual capacities).
That is 1 meter up in Sevan is 5,7 times more that all of Spantaryan.
By now I think you have quite a good idea about capacities..
Now keep in mind, that once there is a war situation, you may pretty surely have blockade on energy imports.
So you may have to chose, between using you oil reserved on tanks, or generating electricity.
Last time we chose the first option, more or less.....and Sevan paid a huge price, by losing roughly 2 meters..
Should we repeat the same cold dark episode?
I thought you were talking about military tanks...
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