Iran, Armenia to Negotiate on Transfer of Electricity to Europe
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Visiting Armenian energy minister Armen Movsisyan announced Yerevan’s readiness for completion of underway projects with Iran and signing contracts for new ones, but said that the two sides need to negotiate further on transit of Iranian electricity to Europe.
“The final decision on transferring Iran’s electricity to Europe has not been made yet and the matter in this respect is in need of further bilateral talks,” Movsisyan told the Tasnim News Agency Saturday.
He said that Armenia is very eager to make use of Iranian technicians’ expertise and the Iranian technology in completion of power generation and transmission facilities of his country.
The visiting Armenian energy minister had a three hour meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian, last Tuesday on expansion of bilateral cooperation in water and electricity fields.
Chitchian told reporters after the meeting that given Europe’s rising demand for electricity, Iran is after exporting electricity to Europe through either Armenia, Azerbaijan, or Georgia.
Movsisyan, too, had said on Tuesday that he was in Tehran for talks on increasing gas imports from Iran.
The Armenian minister had told the Tasnim News Agency that increasing gas imports from Iran and development of bilateral relations in the energy sector would be the main areas of talks with the Iranian oil minister.
The Armenian energy minister and his Iranian counterpart in their Tuesday morning meeting exchanged ideas on power generation and connection of regional countries' electricity networks.
In 2004, the Armenian government initiated construction of Iran-Armenia gas pipeline.
The pipeline started operating in 2007. Armenia uses Iranian gas for generating electricity, which is sent to Iran - 3kilowatt/hour for 1 cubic meter of natural gas. Under the agreement, Iran will send 36 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Armenia for 20 years. The terms of the agreement can be prolonged for five years and gas import can be increased to 47 billion cubic meters.
Armenia used the majority of the approximately 1.25 million cubic meters per day of Iranian natural gas it imported to produce electricity at the Hrazden power plant. Initially, Armenia was to receive 3 million cubic meters per day of gas from Iran, with volumes slated to increase to 6.2 million meters by 2019 as part of the ongoing 20-year contract agreed to in May 2004. However, reported volumes have thus far failed to reach these targets.
