Tuesday, October 23 2018 17:18

ArmInfo.Acting Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources of Armenia Garegin Baghramyan, on October 23, visited the state-owned High Voltage  Electric Networks CJSC, where he held a working meeting.

According to the press service of the department, Garegin Baghramyan  during the meeting pointed out the importance of implementing all the  company's programs in a timely manner and with high quality. In this  context, the Acting minister, in particular, touched upon the  construction projects of the Iran-Armenia high- voltage power  transmission line and the electric substations held by the company.

Speaking of structural reforms and cost optimization in the energy  sector, the Acting Minister noted that the saved financial expenses  will be directed both at solving problems in the system and at  reducing tariffs for the services rendered.

To recall on August 9 in Tehran, Iran and Armenia signed a new  agreement on the construction of the 3rd high-voltage power line.  Under the terms of the agreement, the Iranian side in the name of  EDBI will provide $ 90.5 million of the total project financing  amount of $ 117.6 million. It was agreed to complete construction  work on the transmission line route within 18 months. With the  commissioning of the third high-voltage one, the interchange of  electricity between Armenia and Iran from the current 300 MW will  increase to 1000 MW.  

Thus, the new communication will provide an  opportunity to increase the flow of electricity in both directions at  once by 700 MW. The new power transmission lines will also increase  the opportunities for countries in the Caucasus region to exchange  electricity on a more impressive basis. Georgia, Russia and Turkey  will benefit from the commissioning of the 3rd Armenian-Iranian line.  The Iranian electricity distribution network gets the opportunity to  be docked through the corresponding infrastructure of Armenia and  Georgia with the power systems of Russia and Turkey.    To note the total cost of the project previously was 107.9 million euros, which Iran should have provided in the form of a loan, including a loan of 83.083 million euros signed in September 2011 and an additional  24.817 million euros in April 2012. In accordance with the contract,  the construction of power lines was supposed to be completed within  18 months from the date of opening of financing. However, due to the  sanctions imposed against Iran, the project implementation dates were  constantly postponed.