ArmInfo. The new government of Armenia has doubts about earlier agreements reached with Renco around the construction of the second power unit of the Yerevan Thermal Power Plant. This was stated by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Armenia Tigran Avinyan in a live broadcast of Azatutyun.TV.
He expressed opinion that when it comes to a large investment program based on public-private partnership, where the government assumes certain obligations, it is necessary to do this through the announcement of tenders, and not directly, as did the former government. In particular, the program for the construction of the new power unit at the Yerevan TPP involves mandatory purchase of electricity produced at TPPs for 30 years at a certain rate, which is also formed on the basis of the volume of capital investments. The state has no right in such matters to be based on direct agreements and is obliged to hold an international tender in order to obtain a better price. "Therefore, we have some doubts about this deal," Avinyan said.
Recently the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with the chief executive of the Italian company "Renko" Giovanni Rubini, with whom the problems surrounding the implementation of this investment project were discussed. Then Pashinyan, attaching importance to the implementation of new projects, the prime minister noted that the executive power's task is not to assume such obligations that will negatively affect the country's energy security and tariff policy. The Prime Minister of Armenia invited the representatives of the Italian company to hold intensive consultations with the officials of the government in the near future and expressed hope that in their results it will be possible to find mutually beneficial solutions for the implementation of the project.
The Italian company Renco intends to invest about $ 250 million in the construction of the second power unit of the Yerevan Thermal Power Plant with a combined combined-cycle cycle (ECGCC) with a capacity of 250 mW. Completion of construction work is scheduled for 25 months. The program will create about 900 temporary jobs, and from the time of operation - 200 permanent and highly paid. The best effective technologies will be used in the construction, and the efficiency will be 53%, while this indicator of the Hrazdan power unit is equal to 44%, Yerevan Thermal Power Plant - 49%.
The new power unit at the Yerevan Thermal Power Plant is intended to replace the capacity of the third power unit of the Hrazdan Thermal Power Plant, as conceived by the Armenian energy authorities.
Today it was announced the launch of the modernization program of the operating unit of the Yerevan TPP. The modernization program will be implemented at the own expense of the TPP within six months, its cost will be 18.8 million euros, and the contractor works are the American General Electric.
