Tuesday, December 10 2019 16:49

ArmInfo. The construction of a 400-kilovolt Iran-Armenia power transmission line will be completed before the end of the year. This was announced to  journalists on December 10 by the Minister of Territorial  Administration and Infrastructures Suren Papikyan.

According to him, recently the government approved the project for  the construction of a 400/500-kilovolt power transmission line  Armenia-Georgia and a number of electrical substations, which should  also be commissioned by the end of 2021. The German bank KfW showed  its participation in the construction project of power lines in the  direction of Georgia. The implementation of this project, the  minister continued, will allow the republic to become an important  transit country not only for Georgia and Iran, but also for the  countries of the Eurasian Economic Union and, in particular, the  Russian Federation. Moreover, the capacities provided for in Armenia  will provide such an opportunity. In addition, Armenia has been  carrying out a barter deal "electricity for gas" with Iran for many  years, and the creation of an electricity corridor will increase  these volumes.

It should be noted that Armenia is carrying out a barter deal with  Iran, according to which it receives 1 cubic meter of Iranian gas in  exchange for supplying 3 kW / h of electricity in the opposite  direction, which makes it possible to receive 1 kW / h of electricity  almost free of charge. With the construction of a new, third power  transmission line, these volumes will increase significantly. It is  expected that electricity will also be involved in the exchange  project from a new thermal block with a capacity of 250 MW, the start  of construction of which was given on July 12 this year.

Earlier, ArmInfo reported that the Iranian company Sunir is the main  contractor for the construction of a 400-kilovolt Iran-Armenia power  transmission line. The total project cost is $ 107.9 million, of  which 77% will be provided by the Iran Export Development Bank, and  23% by Sunir.

According to reports, the Iran-Armenia power line is built at 25%  -30%. As for the Armenia-Georgia power transmission line, it is  expected that by March 2020 work on design estimates will be  completed, after which active construction work will begin. As part  of the project in the Georgian direction, it is planned to build two  electrical substations "Ddmashen" with a capacity of 400 kilovolts  and an "Ayrum" with a capacity of 400/500 kilovolts. Moreover, the  construction of power lines in the Georgian direction is envisaged to  be carried out in several stages. The preliminary cost of the  Armenia-Georgia power transmission line construction program,  according to FICHTNER, will be 326.9 million euros, 10% of which  should be part of Georgia's contribution. The first two stages of the  program are estimated at 188.2 million euros. For these purposes,  three loan agreements were signed in 2014-2015. In particular, the  German bank KfW allocated 168 million euros in the form of a loan,  another 10 million euros will be provided by the European Investment  Bank. It is expected to receive another 10 million euros in the form  of a grant from the European Commission.