ArmInfo. The Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Armenia Ashot Manukyan presented to the IMF delegation headed by Hossein Sammiyei the course of implementation of activities to build a new power unit of the Armenian NPP. The press service of the department informed ArmInfo.
According to the source, during the meeting, Manukyan noted that the program for extending the lifetime of the second power unit of the ANPP will be implemented within 3 years, and the work will be completed in 2019. According to him, this will provide an opportunity to operate the second power unit until 2027.
The minister stressed the importance of the role of the IMF in the development of the energy system of Armenia, expressing hope that cooperation in this direction will be a long lasting. At the request of the guests, the Minister presented the current state of the sector and prospects for development.
Within the framework of the meeting, the sides also discussed issues related to the implemented work in the field of regional integration, activities aimed at improving the quality of water management and a number of other programs envisaged for implementation in the energy sector.
To recall, in March 2014 the Armenian government decided to modernize the second power unit of the nuclear power plant. Rosatom State Corporation together with Armenian experts agreed to work on the implementation of the project to extend the life of the nuclear power plant for 10 years until 2026. Completion of work is planned for 2019. Russia allocated for this purpose Armenia a state export loan worth $ 270 million and a grant of $ 30 million.
In March 2015, the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) was established to implement the intergovernmental agreement on extending the life of the ANPP on December 20, 2014. In order to coordinate the project activities, meet deadlines, evaluate the results. So far, three meetings of the JCC were held in October 7, 2015, April 20 and December 2, 2016.