Tuesday, June 6 2023 20:28

ArmInfo. After the final decommissioning of the second power unit of the operating nuclear  power plant (NPP) in Metsamor, Armenia will not be able to provide  domestic electricity consumption without commissioning additional  generating capacities.

This was stated by Advisor to the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures of the Republic of  Armenia Karen Sargsyan during a round table on the topic of "Nuclear  energy as one of the mechanisms for ensuring energy security and  independence of the Republic of Armenia", organized by the  "Rosatom"State Corporation  together with the Ministry of Territorial  Administration and Infrastructures of the Republic of Armenia. He  also noted that if Armenia plans to continue exporting electricity to  Iran and Georgia, then the new unit should have a capacity of at  least 1,000 MW. "The capacity of 1200 MW is enough for the energy  system of Armenia, while the maximum amount of supplies to Iran can  reach 1000 MW with a throughput capacity of 1200 MW", Sargsyan said.

Ilya Vergizaev, First Deputy General Director - Executive Director of  JSC Rusatom Energy Projects (Rosatom) also took part in the  discussions.  Answering the question about the choice of the capacity  of the new power unit, he stressed that Armenia should take into  account both the decommissioning capacity of the existing Armenian  NPP and the units of the Hrazdan TPP planned for decommissioning.

"Totally, it turns out that Armenia is bringing out 1 GW of almost  basic generation with a high ICUF (installed capacity utilization  factor). At the same time, since the country plans to develop  industry and export electricity to neighboring countries, replacing  the retired capacity alone will not be enough," he stressed.

According to Vergizaev, in order to attract investors to the  industrial sector of Armenia, it will be necessary to show that the  country has sufficient capacities. "Only a high-capacity unit can  cope with this task," said a representative of Rosatom.

In addition, Ilya Vergizaev listed some of the socio-economic  benefits that Armenia will receive during the construction and  operation of a high-capacity plant. So, in addition to new jobs,  according to preliminary calculations, the level of localization can  reach 25-30%. Separately, he added that Armenia and Russia have a  single regulatory framework for the construction and operation of the  station, which will allow a smooth transition from the existing  station to the new one.

In turn, Movses Vardanyan, ®HAEK¯ CJSC Genera1 Director - Director of  the Armenian NPP noted that today the NPP generates more than a third  of all electricity of the country. "At the same time, the station  supplies electricity to the republican power grid at one of the  lowest tariffs among all generators, which makes it possible to keep  the consumer price of electricity in Armenia within acceptable  limits," he noted.

The round table was also attended by leading Hungarian expert on  nuclear energy Zsolt Harfash, Deputy Director General for Science for  the Joint Institute for Power and Nuclear Research - SOSNY of the  National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Tamara Korbut and General  Director at "Armenian Scientific-Research Institute for Nuclear Power  Plant Operation" (for short ''Armatom" SRI CJSC) Vahram Petrosyan.  The event was moderated by UN energy expert Ara Marjanyan.

The speakers discussed the role of nuclear energy in the social,  technological and economic development of the country and the region  of presence, ensuring the energy security of the country, experience  and prospects for the development of nuclear energy in Armenia.

It should be noted that for the first 4 months of 2022, the ANPP  generation amounted to 1,245.4 million kWh, which exceeds the figure  of a year ago by 16%.

A few days earlier, in an interview, the Minister of Territorial  Administration and Infrastructures of Armenia Gnel Sanosyan said that  before the end of this year, the Armenian government will decide on  the capacities of the project for the construction of a new nuclear  power unit. According to him, at this stage, the republic is in the  difficult stage of making a decision regarding the new unit, Russian,  American or other capabilities.