Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company) announced in a statement that it has signed an agreement with the Government of the Republic of Armenia to develop a 200-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) plant. The Ayg-1 project will be Armenia’s largest utility-scale solar plant.
The Government Support Agreement (GSA) was signed by His Excellency Gnel Sanosyan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia , and Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, at a ceremony today in Yeravan, the nation’s capital.
The Ayg-1 project will be developed on a design, finance, build, own, and operate basis and the project company will be 85 percent owned by Masdar, with the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF), a government-owned investment vehicle, holding 15 percent. In July, the Armenian Government announced that Masdar was the winning bidder for the project, having submitted a tariff of US$0.0290 per per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in a competitive process.
The Ayg-1 plant will be located between the Talin and Dashtadem communities of Armenia, in an area where solar radiation is high and land is unusable for agricultural purposes. The plant will span over 500 hectares, and will create numerous direct and indirect jobs.
Armenia is looking to increase the share of renewables in its energy mix and reduce its dependence on imported oil & gas. The country also has significant solar energy potential, with an average annual solar energy flow per square meter of horizontal surface of around 1,720 kWh, compared with the average European figure of 1,000 kWh.
