Armenia-Iran gas pipeline no alternative to nuclear plant – paper
Hayots Ashkarh, Yerevan
12 Apr 05
Excerpt from Vasak Tarposhyan’s report by Armenian newspaper Hayots
Ashkarh on 12 April headlined “Can the construction of a gas pipeline
become an alternative to the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant in case of
its closure?”
Preparations have started for the construction of the Megri-Kadzharan
sector of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline. But there are some
obstacles. Although the AyRusgazard [Armenian-Russian gas] company won
the tender for the construction of the Megri-Kadzharan sector,
financial issues have not been fully resolved.
[Passage omitted: known details]
The Iran-Armenia gas pipeline is viewed as an alternative to the
Armenian Nuclear Power Plant [ANPP]. We said many times that the
European Union is for closing the ANPP. It seems that Russia is too
interested in its closure, especially that Russian companies have
recently started showing interest in the fifth unit of the Razdan
[hydroelectric] power plant. Irrespective of their interest, it is
obvious that this can happen only in case there is a target market
where to sell the electricity produced by the fifth unit.
It is known that at present Armenia can fully meet its energy
demands. In this sense the domestic market is closed for the
electricity produced by the fifth unit. It may not be an alternative
to the ANPP in the first place because the electricity produced there
is more expensive, and second, if the electricity produced by this
unit is consumed within the country, then its sale is senseless. Until
today the fifth unit has been idle since we have not resolved the
problem of its target market. For this reason, Russian companies could
only be interested in the export of the electricity produced by the
fifth unit. On the other hand, it is not clear why Russia is
interested in closing the ANPP. It is being managed by Russia. Given
this, it is illogical to be interested in its closure.
May the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline become an alternative to the ANPP in
case of its closure? There is not such an opportunity because the
problem is not about having or not having gas supplies, but about
producing cheap electricity. It does not matter where this gas comes
from, especially that Iranian gas is more expensive. This is
advantageous to Armenia because we should pay with electricity for the
supplied gas, and energy facilities will work with even higher
intensity.
Thus, Russian companies’ interest may be viewed in the context of
using this capacity rather than closing down the ANPP. Iran has a free
and long-term market for energy companies. And finally, in order to
close down the ANPP, Armenia has to construct reliable plants that
produce cheap electricity. The best idea could be building another
nuclear power plant.