Ministry of Energy: In 2018 8 new solar stations will be commissioned in Armenia

ArmInfo. In 2018 8 new solar stations will be put into operation in Armenia. This was announced by Deputy Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources of Armenia Hayk Harutyunyan at a meeting with journalists on February 13.

According to him, last year three solar power stations started operating on the market - one in Kotayk, Armavir and Aragatsotn districts. Their total installed capacity is 2.5 MW. At the same time, the permissible threshold for autonomous generation of electricity based on renewable energy sources from 150 kW / h is increased to 500 kW / h. In January of this year, several programs submitted by legal entities have already been approved for the application of this threshold. At present, there are already 252 autonomous producers in the republic with a total installed capacity of 2.5 MW, which are connected to the power grid. Another 30 have received technical conditions and will also be connected to the network in the near future. The dynamics of connections indicates a significant growth of autonomous producers. So, if by December 31, 2017 their number was 208, by the end of January it was already 252.

An important factor, according to Harutyunyan, is the creation of domestic enterprises for the production of solar panels. In 2017, the company "Solaron" earned, which shows considerable activity in the market. So, the company provided the panels with a solar power plant at 147.8 kW / h in the Tavush region. "Moreover, in these winter days the station sometimes produces up to 153 kWh of electricity, that is, above the installed capacity, which can not but be reassuring," the deputy minister said, adding that in 2018 another such production will appear in the country. The government has already provided the company "Multi Solar" with customs and tax incentives for the import and installation of equipment.

In addition, a lot of work has been done in non-gasified communities. Based on the results of the pilot program in the community of Lernametz, which has installed solar panels on the roofs of all houses, a new program was developed, according to which similar panels were installed in 310 communities. As of today, there are about 2,000 individuals and legal entities in Armenia who have used the program for the introduction of solar water heaters, and 252 persons - photovoltaic panels. This program was actively used.  If in 2016 the installed capacity of solar water heaters was 3.6 MW, now this figure has risen to 8 MW.