Friday, November 11 2022 21:58

ArmInfo. Armenia closely cooperates with its Iranian partners. RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this in an interview with the Public TV channel of  the republic.

He noted that one of the areas of cooperation is the extension of the  barter deal "gas in exchange for electricity". Pashinyan recalled  that Armenia receives gas from Iran, and in return sends electricity  in the opposite direction. Those transmission lines that operate  between the two countries are fully loaded. In order to obtain gas in  a larger volume, a third, more powerful transmission line is needed,  after the completion of which such an opportunity will appear.

On November 1, Armenia and Iran extended until 2030 an agreement on  the supply of gas in exchange for electricity. In 2004, Tehran and  Yerevan signed a 20-year gas-for-electricity barter agreement under  which Iran's exported gas would be consumed by power plants in  Armenia, and in return Iran would import electricity from Armenia.   The Republic of Armenia has been importing gas from Iran since mid-  2009. Armenia is carrying out a barter deal with Iran "gas in  exchange for electricity" at the rate of 1 cubic meter of blue fuel  from Iran in exchange for 3 kWh of electricity from Armenia. Gas  supplies are carried out via the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, and  electricity from Armenia is sent to Iran via two power lines. In  order to increase the volume of mutual deliveries, a third,  400-kilovolt power transmission line Iran- Armenia is being built.  

It should be noted, however, that the project to build the  North-South energy corridor, designed to unite the electric power  systems of Iran, Armenia, Georgia and Russia, has encountered a  number of problems. If the completion date of the transmission line  project was previously announced at the end of 2018, then at the end  of December 2021, the responsible bodies already announced that the  line would be ready by the end of 2023. The main contractor for the  construction of the 400-kilovolt Iran-Armenia power line is the  Iranian Sunir company. The total cost of the project is $107.9  million, of which 77% will be provided by the Export Development Bank  of Iran, and 23% by Sunir.