Iran exported 250 million cubic meters of natural gas to Armenia

ArmInfo. Since the beginning  of this year, Iran has exported 250 million cubic meters of natural  gas to Armenia. Tasnim News reports with reference to the managing  director of the Iranian gas transportation company Said Tavakoli.

According to him, in 2004 Tehran signed a gas deal with Yerevan,  according to which the Islamic Republic agreed to supply gas to  Armenia and import electricity in return.

The 20-year contract came into force in mid-2009. He added, that gas  is exported to Armenia through a 30-inch pipeline, capable of  displacing 2.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. The  official noted that the volume of gas exports in the previous fiscal  year amounted to 365 million cubic meters.

According to the agreement, Iran's natural gas is used by Armenian  power plants to produce electricity, which, in turn, is exported to  Iran. Tehran receives 3.2 kilowatt-hours of electricity from Yerevan  in exchange for 1 cubic meter of natural gas.  The energy networks of  Iran and Armenia are connected by two electric lines, and the third  is being built. It is planned that after the completion of the  construction of the third Iran-Armenia power line in 2019, the volume  of the barter transaction will increase significantly.

It should be noted that the construction of the Iran-Armenia power  line is carried out by the Iranian company Sanir. The total cost of  this program is $ 107.9 million. The construction was started in  2012, but due to the sanctions against Iran and the lack of necessary  financial resources, the construction of this energy facility was  delayed. The route for laying power transmission lines has been  determined, work has been carried out on pairing the lines, and the  location of the construction of the electric substation has been  determined.

Imported equipment worth $ 1.337 million, including voltage  transformers. Work was carried out on the construction of an open  warehouse in the amount of 250 thousand euros. The project is funded  by the Iranian Development Bank, which provided 77% of all necessary  funds, and 23% - Sanir. In total, 722 poles from the village of  Ddmashen to Agarak should be installed for power lines. In order to  implement the project, 743 land plots will be alienated in favor of  the state.

The Armenian government at the meeting on April 28, 2016 granted the  Iranian company Sanir permission to implement licensing activities.  With the help of this power line, Iran expects to enter the  electricity market of Georgia and Russia via the Armenian-Georgian  electricity transmission line under construction with a total cost of  303 million euros. The voltage of the transmission line will be  400kV, the construction will make it possible to increase the  transmission capacity to 1000mW from the current 350mW. The length of  the power line will be 279 km.