ArmInfo. As part of the construction of the 200 MW Aig-1 solar power plant on an industrial scale, a land plot with a total area of 169.8614 hectares, belonging to the Talin community of the Aragatsotn region of Armenia, will be donated to the Republic of Armenia, after which the property should be included in the authorized capital of Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF). The decision was made at a cabinet meeting on March 2.
As stated in the explanation to the document, on December 26, 2019, the Government of the Republic of Armenia adopted the investment program "Masdar Armenia", on the basis of which it is planned to build a 200 MW Aig-1 solar power plant on the territory of Talin and Dashtadem communities of the Aragatsotn region of Armenia. On June 18, 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to provide land plots with a total area of 377.4495 hectares to the specified company for use for the implementation of the project. In today's decision of the government, it is noted that in order to solve the priority problems of the Talin community, and for the implementation of capital works at this stage, it is planned to allocate 350 million drams. Thus, in a number of settlements of the Talin community, it is planned to carry out asphalting works worth about 140 million drams, as well as the implementation of capital repair and construction works of internal irrigation and drinking networks worth about 210 million drams. At the same time, the Government of the Republic of Armenia expresses its readiness to allocate 350 million drams for the next stages to solve the priority problems of the community, of which about 100 million drams will be spent on the repair and construction of kindergarten buildings, about 70 million drams will be directed to asphalting community roads, and about 180 million drams - for gasification of a number of settlements in the Talin community.
ANIF, in turn, noted that the project confirms the commitment of the Government of the Republic of Armenia to the development of renewable energy, according to which it is planned to build solar power plants with a total installed capacity of up to 1,000 megawatts, including autonomous ones, with the goal of increasing the share of solar energy production in the total volume to at least 15% by 2030.
Masdar (a subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, UAE, with total assets of $220 billion and one of the world's leading companies in the field of renewable energy), which became the winner of the tender for the implementation of the program in July 2021, guaranteed a tariff of $0 ,0290 excluding VAT for 1 kW/h of electricity. On November 26, 2021, following the results of the competition, the Armenian government signed an agreement with the Masdar company on the construction of Aig-1. The beneficiary of 85% of the shares will be the Masdar company, and 15% of the shares will belong to the ANIF. The total investment cost of the program, as it was announced then, will be $174 million, this solar station will become the largest in Armenia. Today, ANIF announced that there is an investment of about $200 million. On March 29, 2022, it was announced that the construction and launch of Aig-1 with the necessary adjacent infrastructures is planned until December 2023.
