Armenia looks for another energy source for nuke plant shutdown

Yerevan -- Prospects for developing Armenia's power system are mainly linked with the use of renewable energy sources, Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan told journalists at the presentation of the reconstruction programme of the Kamo substation in the town of Gavar recently.

He said that at present the country's government and energy experts are rapidly drafting a programme on developing an alternative energy source which will ensure Armenia's energy security in case the Armenian Nuclear Power Station is closed. The main emphasis in this programme is put on the development of the hydropower industry, the prime minister noted. To that end, the government is trying to get loans to modernize the existing and construct new small hydroelectric power plants.

Apart from this, a final agreement has been reached with Iran on the construction of a hydroelectric power station on the River Araz which will have the same capacity as the Vorotan cascade of hydroelectric power plants (the overall capacity of 404 MW). The prime minister said that the establishment of alternative energy sources was necessary for closing down the Armenian Nuclear Power Station.

"Nuclear power is a good thing but a luxury," he said. He also said that Armenia had no means to mothball the currently operating Nuclear Power Station, which would cost about 1bn dollars, or to build new up-to-date plants since the international community did not allocate the necessary funds to this end.

At the same time, the prime minister gave assurances that the Armenian Nuclear Power Station would be working till the establishment of alternative energy sources in Armenia. As an alternative, the prime minister also mentioned the construction of an Iran-Armenia gas pipeline which will ensure additional supplies of gas to the thermal power plants of the republic. In this connection, he said, it is feasible to modernize the Yerevan thermal power station using the 140m-dollar loan of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

BBC Monitoring Central Asia