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TURKISH EXPERT SAYS ARMENIA COULD SELL ELECTRICITY TO TURKEY VIA GEORGIA
YEREVAN, December 19. / ARKA /. Armenia could export electricity to
Turkey via Georgia, Hassan Selim Uzertem, and head of the Turkish
Center for Research of Energy Security of the International Strategic
Studies organization, told an international conference in Yerevan on
regional security challenges.
He explained that because of the closed Turkish-Armenian border
export of Armenian electricity t to Turkey is impossible, even if
power-generating facilities in Armenia are owned by foreign companies.
"However, there are ways for developing bilateral commerce. I see
in Yerevan many Turkish brands that come to Armenia via Georgia. You
can do it in the opposite direction. Armenia could sell electricity
to Georgia and Georgia to Turkey," Uzertem said.
He said Georgia is already exporting electricity to Turkey.
"Sales of Armenian electricity to Turkey via Georgia could serve as
an additional factor in the integration between the three countries,"
he added.
Speaking at the same conference, Sevak Sarukhanyan, head of a
Yerevan-based Noravank think-tank, said Armenia could sell electricity
to Iran have not it been too expensive? He said according to many
estimates, if Armenia builds a new nuclear power unit in lieu of
its aging Metsamor plant, the cost of one Kilowatt of electrifies
will be 16 US cents, whereas Tehran subsidies electricity prices for
households which pay only 2 US cents.
The Armenian Metsamor nuclear power plant is located some 30 kilometers
west of Yerevan. It was built in the 1970s but was closed following
a devastating earthquake in 1988. One of its two VVER 440-V230
light-water reactors was reactivated in 1995. Armenian authorities
say they will build a new nuclear power plant to replace the aging
facility. The new plant is supposed to operate at twice the capacity
of the Soviet-constructed facility. Metsamor currently generates some
40 percent of Armenia's electricity. But the government has yet to
attract funding for the project that was estimated by a U.S.-funded
feasibility study to cost at as much as $5 billion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said September 3 after talks with
his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan in the Russian capital that
experts from Russian state nuclear company Rosatom and their Armenian
peers agreed to work on a project to extend the service life of the
current Armenian nuclear power plant in Metsamor for another 10 years
until 2026. -0-
15:39 19.12.2013
http://arka.am/en/news/economy/turkish_expert_says_armenia_could_sell_electricity _to_turkey_via_georgia/
YEREVAN, December 19. / ARKA /. Armenia could export electricity to
Turkey via Georgia, Hassan Selim Uzertem, and head of the Turkish
Center for Research of Energy Security of the International Strategic
Studies organization, told an international conference in Yerevan on
regional security challenges.
He explained that because of the closed Turkish-Armenian border
export of Armenian electricity t to Turkey is impossible, even if
power-generating facilities in Armenia are owned by foreign companies.
"However, there are ways for developing bilateral commerce. I see
in Yerevan many Turkish brands that come to Armenia via Georgia. You
can do it in the opposite direction. Armenia could sell electricity
to Georgia and Georgia to Turkey," Uzertem said.
He said Georgia is already exporting electricity to Turkey.
"Sales of Armenian electricity to Turkey via Georgia could serve as
an additional factor in the integration between the three countries,"
he added.
Speaking at the same conference, Sevak Sarukhanyan, head of a
Yerevan-based Noravank think-tank, said Armenia could sell electricity
to Iran have not it been too expensive? He said according to many
estimates, if Armenia builds a new nuclear power unit in lieu of
its aging Metsamor plant, the cost of one Kilowatt of electrifies
will be 16 US cents, whereas Tehran subsidies electricity prices for
households which pay only 2 US cents.
The Armenian Metsamor nuclear power plant is located some 30 kilometers
west of Yerevan. It was built in the 1970s but was closed following
a devastating earthquake in 1988. One of its two VVER 440-V230
light-water reactors was reactivated in 1995. Armenian authorities
say they will build a new nuclear power plant to replace the aging
facility. The new plant is supposed to operate at twice the capacity
of the Soviet-constructed facility. Metsamor currently generates some
40 percent of Armenia's electricity. But the government has yet to
attract funding for the project that was estimated by a U.S.-funded
feasibility study to cost at as much as $5 billion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said September 3 after talks with
his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan in the Russian capital that
experts from Russian state nuclear company Rosatom and their Armenian
peers agreed to work on a project to extend the service life of the
current Armenian nuclear power plant in Metsamor for another 10 years
until 2026. -0-
15:39 19.12.2013
http://arka.am/en/news/economy/turkish_expert_says_armenia_could_sell_electricity _to_turkey_via_georgia/