Wednesday, April 4 2018 15:28

ArmInfo.Until 2030, Armenia  intends to have only nuclear and renewable sources of energy in the  structure of domestic consumption. On April 4, Deputy Minister of  Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources of Armenia Hayk  Harutyunyan stated at a meeting with journalists. Thus, as  Harutyunyan pointed out, thermal and gas stations will work for  export.

Currently, 8 heliostations are in the process of construction, the  total installed capacity of which is about 8 MW. The Ministry of  Energy plans to put them into operation before the end of 2018. Last  year, three solar power plants started operating on the market - one  in Kotayk, Armavir and Aragatsotn regions. 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 addition, within the government program in Armenia, it is planned  to build industrial-grade solar stations with a capacity of up to 110  megawatts. Of the 6 surveyed areas in two, the Spanish consulting  company Aries Engineering has already submitted feasibility studies.  They relate to the localities of "Masrik" in Gegharkunik region and  "Dashtadem" in Aragatsotn region, studies on the remaining four  localities continue. According to Masrik, there is already an  international tender winner in the face of the Dutch Fotowatio  Renewable Ventures (FRV) and the Spanish FSL Solar SL, who offered  the lowest tariff from the future solar generating facility - $  0.0419 of electricity without VAT or 20.11 AMD per 1 kWh of  electricity , that is, 20% cheaper than from small hydropower  facilities in Armenia (equal to 23.8 drams per 1 kWh of electricity).  And, since, as the deputy minister admitted, the proposed tariff was  in fact lower than expected by the government, in the case of  Dashtadem, it may be decided to build it without holding a tender,  fix the tariff, and liberalize the market for all comers. As  Harutyunyan pointed out, it is already known that Fotowatio Renewable  Ventures (FRV) and FSL Solar S.L are interested in building a more  powerful station in the same Masrika. The question will be resolved  within the next 6 months.

The potential of RES in Armenia, according to the deputy minister, is  unlimited. Since 2015, the Ministry has carried out measurements and  assessment of the solar resource. 4 meteorological stations measured  and estimated the solar resource, as a result at this stage Armenia  already has an updated "solar map", which is accessible to everyone.  At the same time, the energy system of Armenia for today is able to  receive only 70 MW of electricity from solar energy facilities of the  country. As the solar energy industry of Armenia develops, a more  precise estimate will be given regarding the ability of the  republic's energy system to receive electricity from the country's  heliostation. In the case of the construction of a power transmission  line between Armenia and Iran, as noted by Hayk Harutyunyan, the 70  MW limit set at this stage will be unambiguously revised, as the  system will be able to "digest much higher capacities." "Armenia has  now proclaimed a policy of phased introduction of solar technologies  in order to exclude a possible negative impact on the system," he  said, adding that those responsible for the sphere in the daily  regime will monitor both the introduction of new technologies and  their impact on market, security and reliability of the system.   Armenia, as indicated by the deputy minister, plans to increase the  figure to 150 megawatts. As a result, by 2030 the share of RES (hydro  and other renewable energy sources) in the energy balance of the  country should be about 70%.  At the same time, for today the deputy  minister has refrained to name how much this process will affect the  final tariff for the consumer, since the price for the consumer  directly depends on the share of renewable energy in the annual  electricity balance. For today the final tariff is formed on the  basis of mathematical calculation by the formula the average cost of  electricity purchased from HPPs, thermal stations and nuclear power  plants, plus the costs of its transmission, distribution, etc.