Tuesday, February 21 2017 11:12

ArmInfo. The terms of Reference for  the  Russia(North- South)-Georgia- Armenia-Iran will be ready in the second half of 2017, Alexander Novak, the head of Energy Ministry said to journalists- RIA Novosti reads. 

 " We have discussed with Iranian Minister of Energy two energy corridors, and one of those is RF- Georgia-Russia-Iran. The terms of Reference for that project is under implementation now, and it will be ready in the second half of this year," Novak said. "The other is related to Azerbaijan. We have dealed that in the middle of march our specialists will meet and discuss the implementation of the project, and the technical conditions for the development of TOR.  The works on North-South project with a capacity of 1,2 gVt started  in December 205. In April 2016 the energy ministers of four countries signed the road map of the project, which assumes the common development of the TOR, as well as the memorandum on mutual understanding in respect to the cooperation in the field of electric energy. The TOR development Agreement was signed in Batumi in September 2016.

As ArmInfo has reported earlier, the construction  of the Iran-Armenia power transmission line is being conducted in accordance with the schedule, Arthur Baghdasaryan, Director General of High Voltage Electric Networks CJSC, said at today's meeting of the Investment Commission headed by Armenian Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources Ashot Manukyan.

He said that under the EUR 76 mln project, 672 land plots have been acquired, equipment and constructions weighing a total of 1965 tons have been brought to 60 communities, nearly 100 km of access roads have been built. The project envisages construction of Noravan electric power substation and about 33 mln EUR will be spent on it.  12 hectares of land has been acquired for the project.

Baghdasaryan pointed out that the project of construction of the Armenia-Georgia power transmission line and a converting station is being estimated. The project will be completed in 2019. A tender has been announced to choose the general contractor of the project. 

To note, Fichtner GmbH & Co. KG - the consultant of the Armenia-Georgia power transmission line construction project - has finished the work over preparation of the tender package to choose the general contractor. It is planned to implement the project in three phases, the sources of financing of the first two phases are already known. It is planned to construct the 400 kV transmission line and two substations in Ddmashen and Ayrum under the first two phases of the project, which will allow connecting to Georgian electricity system in non-synchronized regime.  Fichtner GmbH & Co.  KG has assessed the environmental and social impact of the project.  The project aims to link the power grids of Armenia and Georgia and to promote mutually beneficial regional cooperation within the framework of the Iran-Armenia- Georgia- Russia energy corridor. In addition, the project will create prerequisites for synchronous operation of the electric power networks of the CIS member states.

According to FICHTNER, the cost of the project is preliminarily estimated at 326.9 mln EUR. The connection from the Georgian side will be through a 500 kV line from the Marneul substation, and the connection from the Armenian side will be through the 400 kV line from Hrazdan. The first two phases of the project are estimated at 188.2 mln EUR. In 2014-2015 three loan agreements were signed. The German KfW Bank lent 168 mln EUR, and the European Investment Bank lent 10 mln EUR. The European Commission is expected to grant 10 mln EUR. The construction will be launched in early 2017 and will be completed by late 2019. The construction of the Iran-Armenia power transmission line will also be completed in 2019.