ArmInfo. On February 17, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Armenia Yervand Zakharyan received delegation of Moody's international rating agency. Dietmar Hornung, Associate Managing Director of the Agency's Sovereign Risk Group, Sebastian Becker, Assistant Vice President-Analyst, and Ernest Sergenti, Assistant Vice President - Sovereign Risk Group participated in the meeting.
As the press-service of the Ministry informed Arminfo, Yervand Zakharyan welcomed the guests and presented them the current situation in the energy sector of the country and the prospects of development. The Minister noted that at the result of conducted events the energy sector of Armenia is currently financially stable. New ownership of the Electric Networks of Armenia and implementation of anti-crisis measures by the new owner also contributed to this. As a result loss of electricity was reduced and is close to the 11.2% index set by the Public Services Regulatory Commission.
Talking about the programs being implemented in the field Zakharyan mentioned that activities are being held aimed at prolongation of the terms of exploitation till 2027of the second power unit of Armenian Nuclear Power Plant. For this reason loan and grant funds have been attracted from Russia. At the same time Armenia plans to construct new nuclear power unit with a capacity of 600 MW till 2027. Work is being held to attract private investors for this project.
Besides, the Minister added that construction of two new thermal power plants in Yerevan and Vanadzor is planned. Both projects will be implemented by private investors. Yervand Zakharyan informed that at the end of last year Strategy for Armenia's energy sector development 2036 was adopted which envisages increasing capacity also with the help of renewable energy. Particularly, it is planned to ensure additional capacity of 200 MW from winter power, 40-50 MW from solar energy and 120 MW from small HPPs. With the help of these measures Armenia aims to reduce the risks related to influence of energy resources on tariffs.
Minister touched upon regional projects and pointed at the project of construction of Iran-Armenia and Armenia-Georgia power transmission lines which will allow creating transit energy corridor.