From Armenia in brief: Armenia to start direct delivery of electric power to Turkey

Published: Sunday September 14, 2008

According to Arminfo, Armenia will begin direct delivery of electric power to Turkey beginning in 2009. A contract between High-Voltage Power Lines of Armenia and a private Turkish company, UNIT, was signed during the visit of Turkey's president Abdullah Gül to Yerevan. Armen Movsisyan, Armenia's energy and natural resources minister, told journalists that according to the contract, the Turkish side has to repair damaged sections of the high-voltage electric power line on its territory and install a new autotransformer in order to be able to receive electricity from Armenia. Armenia will not need to take any special measure to export the electricity. According to Armenpress, the minister said, "If the Turkish side finishes the work quicker, we will start the supply of electricity sooner."

Initially, Armenia will deliver 1.5 billion kWh of electric power annually to Turkey, but those volumes may rise to 3.5 billion kWh of power. According to the minister, the export price agreed upon will be 5.7 U.S. cents for 1 kWh of power.

During the Soviet era, Armenia delivered electric power to Turkey. Mr. Movsisyan said that Armenia has the capacity to export power because of upgrades to Yerevan's power plant, the construction of the Meghri power plant, and upgrades at the nuclear power plant.