Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a consultative meeting to discuss Armenia’s energy system development prospects and current programs. “It is difficult to overestimate the energy system and its significance. In fact, in the modern world, the power industry is undergoing serious changes, and we must be able to clearly understand and evaluate our actions in this context in order to bring our energy system in line with modern standards in terms of balance and strategic perspective,” Nikol Pashinyan said.

Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources Artur Grigoryan reported that the efforts to extend ANPP’s second power unit’s operations are carried out in accordance with the established schedule. In addition, the ANPP’s recurrent repairs will have been completed by this August 1, and its operations will be resumed.

During the meeting, the importance of further developing nuclear power engineering in our country was emphasized, taking into account the need for a consistent increase in the level of energy security. Issues of storage and further processing of nuclear waste were also discussed.

The Prime Minister was briefed on the construction of a third Iran-Armenia power transmission line, the prospects for developing renewable energy, the situation in the hydropower sector and eventual programs. It was noted that there are positive developments, especially in the field of solar energy: a number of investors submitted applications for implementation of investment projects. A tender for the construction of the 55 MW Masrik-1 solar power station is complete, which was won by the Consortium of the Durch Fotowatio Renewable Ventures B.V and the Spanish FSL Solar S.L.

Minister Grigoryan reported that representatives of these companies will arrive in Yerevan in the coming days to sign the relevant agreement. The Prime Minister welcomed the implementation of consistent steps to develop renewable energy, as well as touched on the field of hydropower, stressing: “We need to rule out a situation where work is done bypassing the opinion of local communities. This should be simply ruled out. If the project is good, you need to convince people. Here the community’s opinion should play a decisive role. This applies not only to the energy system, but also to the implementation of any project. In the end, the interests of all communities concerned should be taken into account.”

Nikol Pashinyan suggested taking stock of all dubious and problematic commitments in the energy sector and take steps to resolve them.