Tweet
Mini Hydro Plants Have Destroyed Armenia's Large River Eco-Systems
Kristine Aghalaryan
13:05, May 22, 2013
Ever since Armenia regained independence the number of mini
hydro-electric plants has increased by 136 from the 13 operating in
the Soviet era.
They produce 665.3 million kilowatt/hours of energy annually.
Another 77 are in the process of being built and will soon come on line.
These statistics were provided by Armen Hayrapetyan, Executive
Director of the Mini Hydro-Plants Union' at a conference entitled `The
Future of Energy in Armenia: A Conference on Renewable Energy and
Energy Efficiency in Armenia'.
Hayrapetyan is an outspoken supporter of such plants as a important
renewable energy source and says they pose a negligible environmental
risk.
Aram Gabrielyan, who represents the Khazer NGO, took issue with
Hayrapetyan's favourable assessment, arguing that while water is
indeed a renewable resource at issue is the entire eco-system and that
it is hardly renewable.
Gabrielyan noted that it isn't the overall energy sector in Armenia
that is being promoted but rather mini hydro plants.
`We have lost all our large rivers. There isn't one left that can be
regarded as a complete eco-system,' Gabrielyan told the conference,
citing the examples of the Hrazdan and Vorotan rivers.
He went on to say that there aren't enough rivers left in Armenia to
serve another 77 hydro plants.
Photo: Yeghegis River, Vayots Dzor
http://hetq.am/eng/news/26715/mini-hydro-plants-have-destroyed-armenias-large-river-eco-systems.html
Kristine Aghalaryan
13:05, May 22, 2013
Ever since Armenia regained independence the number of mini
hydro-electric plants has increased by 136 from the 13 operating in
the Soviet era.
They produce 665.3 million kilowatt/hours of energy annually.
Another 77 are in the process of being built and will soon come on line.
These statistics were provided by Armen Hayrapetyan, Executive
Director of the Mini Hydro-Plants Union' at a conference entitled `The
Future of Energy in Armenia: A Conference on Renewable Energy and
Energy Efficiency in Armenia'.
Hayrapetyan is an outspoken supporter of such plants as a important
renewable energy source and says they pose a negligible environmental
risk.
Aram Gabrielyan, who represents the Khazer NGO, took issue with
Hayrapetyan's favourable assessment, arguing that while water is
indeed a renewable resource at issue is the entire eco-system and that
it is hardly renewable.
Gabrielyan noted that it isn't the overall energy sector in Armenia
that is being promoted but rather mini hydro plants.
`We have lost all our large rivers. There isn't one left that can be
regarded as a complete eco-system,' Gabrielyan told the conference,
citing the examples of the Hrazdan and Vorotan rivers.
He went on to say that there aren't enough rivers left in Armenia to
serve another 77 hydro plants.
Photo: Yeghegis River, Vayots Dzor
http://hetq.am/eng/news/26715/mini-hydro-plants-have-destroyed-armenias-large-river-eco-systems.html