YEREVAN, APRIL 4, ARMENPRESS. The project on constructing Masrik-1 55MW solar power plant broke all stereotypes on solar technologies according to which these stations are expensive and their installation in Armenia is time-consuming, Hayk Harutyunyan – deputy minister of energy infrastructures and natural resources, said during a press conference in Armenpress.

“Now in fact we have a very cheap tariff that is more affordable from the average weighted tariff and can positively affect the final consumer price if the share in our production system increases”, the deputy minister said, recalling that the tariff proposed by the consortium comprising the Dutch Fotowatio Renewable Ventures B.V and Spanish FSL Solar S.L. is 0.0419 USD or 20.11 AMD without VAT. He said this is less by 20% than the current tariff for small HPPs which is 23.8 AMD.

The deputy minister said the proposed tariff is unprecedented, such tariff would be impossible to find in any such international tenders which were held in recent years. Hayk Harutyunyan said by the implementation of this project Armenia will use several advantages, in particular, the innovative solutions proposed by the winner company.

“When we received the proposal, we saw that a number of innovative solutions were proposed which significantly increase the station’s efficiency. The proposed technical solution is the single-axis system following the sun which enables to increase the production by nearly 20% with the same capacity”, the deputy minister said, adding that the state in its turn guarantees that the Electric Networks of Armenia is obliged to buy the entire energy generated by the proposed tariff for 20 years.

As for the other benefits of the project, the winner company will make an investment worth 80 million AMD in the community. Moreover, 6 million AMD will enter annually to the Mets Masrik budget by the property tax and land tax. This year all contracts necessary for the implementation of the project will be signed, and the construction works will launch in 2019 which will be completed by the end of that year. “At least 50 jobs will be created during the construction, but during the permanent operation there will be 20 jobs”, the deputy minister said.

The solar power plant will consists of more than 170.000 solar panels and more than 3000 3H systems following the sun which, the deputy minister said, have not been used in Armenia yet and will be a positive experience for future solar power plants. Asked whether it will be possible to use solar panels of Armenian production in the construction of Masrik-1, the deputy minister gave negative response since quite strict requirements have been presented, and only nearly 10 leading companies across the world can satisfy these requirements.

7 dozen companies submitted applications for participating in the tender for construction of Masrik-1 solar power plant. 20 out of these companies applied for the prequalification stage, and only 10 have passed. 5 companies submitted applications for the final tender. The tender’s requirement was to propose the lowest tariff.

English –translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan