2 minute read
Armenia is adopting a strategy to achieve energy independence, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said.
Speaking to lawmakers during parliamentary debates on the government’s 2026-2031 program, Pashinyan said achieving this goal has only recently become realistic due to the development of renewable energy, particularly solar energy.
“The Republic of Armenia has enormous solar resources, and we have developed this resource. Compared with 16 megawatts in 2018, we now have 1,213 megawatts of solar power plants, and now, to ensure the further development of this process, we will launch the establishment of energy storage facilities in Armenia so that, by storing the solar energy generated during the day, they can supply us with the electricity we need at night,” he said.
The prime minister said that there are plans to have at least 800 megawatts of energy storage facilities by 2031, which is around twice the installed capacity of the existing nuclear power plant.
“Over the next year, we must finally decide with whom and what kind of nuclear power plant we will build, because the operating life of the existing nuclear power plant expires in 2036. And, by the way, Armenia assumed the de jure obligation to shut down the nuclear power plant back before the revolution,” he said, adding that developing technologies may make it possible to extend the operating life of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant once again beyond 2036.
“We are negotiating with potential partners. Such a decision, of course, will be made only in cooperation and collaboration with competent international bodies,” he said.