Armenia and Iran sign three joint energy projects

YEREVAN, November 6. / ARKA /. Iranian Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian and his Armenian counterpart Armen Movsisyan have signed three agreements for the implementation of joint hydropower projects, according to Iranian news agencies.

The agreements were reached in Tehran on Tuesday as Chitchian and  Armen Movsisyan met to discuss enhancement of mutual cooperation between the two neighboring countries. 

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the meeting, Chitchian pointed to the high level of cooperation between Iran and Armenia in the electricity and energy sectors and noted that the new agreements were related to bartering electricity for natural gas, construction of a new hydroelectric power plant on the border river Arax, and further electricity exchanges between the two countries.  He noted that transit of Iran’s electricity to Russia was also discussed in the meeting. 

The Iranian minister stated that based on the existing agreements, Iran’s electricity will be transmitted to Russia through Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.  Iran has bartered more than 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas with Armenia’s electricity over the past six years. 

The National Iranian Gas Company said recently that around 1.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas has been traded with Armenian electricity during the 2007-2012 period. 

Last year, the Islamic Republic exchanged some 481 million cubic meters of gas with the neighboring country’s electricity, the largest amount of barter between Iran and Armenia in six years. -0-