ArmInfo. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a consultative meeting to discuss progress in the implementation of the Armenia-Georgia Power Transmission Line Construction Project under the Caucasian Power Transmission Network Program.
As the press service of Armenian Prime Minister reports, the meeting reviewed issues related to project funding and organizing a tender for construction work as part of cooperation with the German KFW Bank.
Reference was made to the construction of Ddmashen and Ayrum substations under the Armenia-Georgia Power Transmission Line Project and the steps to take in this direction.
Earlier, in an interview with ArmInfo, Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Hakob Vardanyan noted that for various reasons, primarily of a technical nature, the project was not implemented for 2.5 years until 2017. Since 2017, progress has begun, and in the summer of 2018, large- scale construction began. Out of 745 supports, 245 have already been installed in the direction of Iran; the process of concreting another 450 supports has begun. Considering the fact that the construction work was almost completed at the Noravan electrical substation, we can talk about 50% of the volume of work performed. As for the high-voltage power lines in the direction of Georgia, there are currently three high- voltage power lines in the direction of the neighboring state - "Lalvar", "Alaverdi" and "Ashotsk- Ninatsminda", of which one actually operates - "Alaverdi" power transmission line, but also it does not allow working in parallel mode. The technical problem of building a new power line was to determine the route of its construction. Initially, it was planned to build along the entire route the electric substation "Ddmashen" with a voltage of 400 kilovolts and the converter substation "Ayrum" of 500 kilovolts, which would allow combining the electric power systems of all three states to operate in asynchronous mode. The problem, in particular, was that the cost of the construction project of the Ayrum substation alone was to make up most of the cost of the program, or about 110 million euros. And the object itself was supposed to occupy an area of 60 hectares. These and other issues hindered the implementation of the project. However, a final decision has now been made on the need to build both substations. In the future, the possibility of upgrading the electrical substation at the Hrazdan TPP is also being considered, which, along with two other substations - Shinuhayr and the substation of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant - plays a key, connecting role. And here it is not so important that the Hrazdan TPP is the property of a private company. This station will soon cease to exist due to moral and physical deterioration, and about 700 people may lose their jobs. It is envisaged that some of them will be involved in the electrical substation of the Hrazdan TPP. The final decision on this project has been made, tender documents will be ready before the end of this year, and in the middle of next year the project consultant, Fichtner, will complete all tender procedures, after which an agreement on construction work will be concluded with the winner of the tender. According to the new schedule, power transmission lines should be put into operation before 2022. The implementation of the project will significantly increase the safety and reliability of the country's energy system, eliminate accidents like the one that occurred this summer, as it will make it possible to quickly solve all the problems.