ArmInfo. Armenia closely cooperates with its Iranian partners. RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this in an interview with the Public TV channel of the republic.
He noted that one of the areas of cooperation is the extension of the barter deal "gas in exchange for electricity". Pashinyan recalled that Armenia receives gas from Iran, and in return sends electricity in the opposite direction. Those transmission lines that operate between the two countries are fully loaded. In order to obtain gas in a larger volume, a third, more powerful transmission line is needed, after the completion of which such an opportunity will appear.
On November 1, Armenia and Iran extended until 2030 an agreement on the supply of gas in exchange for electricity. In 2004, Tehran and Yerevan signed a 20-year gas-for-electricity barter agreement under which Iran's exported gas would be consumed by power plants in Armenia, and in return Iran would import electricity from Armenia. The Republic of Armenia has been importing gas from Iran since mid- 2009. Armenia is carrying out a barter deal with Iran "gas in exchange for electricity" at the rate of 1 cubic meter of blue fuel from Iran in exchange for 3 kWh of electricity from Armenia. Gas supplies are carried out via the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, and electricity from Armenia is sent to Iran via two power lines. In order to increase the volume of mutual deliveries, a third, 400-kilovolt power transmission line Iran- Armenia is being built.
It should be noted, however, that the project to build the North-South energy corridor, designed to unite the electric power systems of Iran, Armenia, Georgia and Russia, has encountered a number of problems. If the completion date of the transmission line project was previously announced at the end of 2018, then at the end of December 2021, the responsible bodies already announced that the line would be ready by the end of 2023. The main contractor for the construction of the 400-kilovolt Iran-Armenia power line is the Iranian Sunir company. The total cost of the project is $107.9 million, of which 77% will be provided by the Export Development Bank of Iran, and 23% by Sunir.
