Construction of $250 million worth power plant kicks off in Armenia
12.07.2019,
15:31
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended today a ceremony that gave start to the construction of a new thermal power plant in Yerevan.
YEREVAN, July 12 /ARKA/.Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended today a ceremony that gave start to the construction of a new thermal power plant in Yerevan.
The new thermal power plant’s design capacity is 250 MW. The construction is projected to last 26 months. The service life of the facility is 25-30 years. The projected efficiency is 53% and cost is estimated at more than $250 million.
Hakob Vardanyan, Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures, said that the plant will be able to generate 1.8-2 billion kWh of electricity per year. The prime cost of 1 kWh will be 27.4 drams.
According to Vardanyan, about a thousand temporary jobs will be created for the construction of the plant, whose minimum wage will be about $600. After completion of the construction, 250 permanent jobs will be created for highly qualified specialists.
The head of the Public Services Regulatory Commission Garegin Baghramyan said that this plant will replace the Hrazdan thermal power plant whose service life expires in a couple of years.
"The Hrazdan plant generates electricity at a very high price. The fuel share in the cost is 31.5 drams, which is 4 drams more that the cost of electricity that the new plant will produce. With other costs the price of 1 kWh becomes 40-41 drams," he said.
According to Baghramyan, after commissioning the new plant, the cost of electricity for consumers may fall by 1-1.5 drams.
The finances for the construction of the plant were provided by the IFC ($42 million), another $121 million by the IFC’s innovative lending platform, $44 million by the Asian Development Bank, and $39 million by the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA ). Funds are also provided by other financial organizations. -0-
