ArmInfo. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received the Executive Director of the German Fichtner company operating in the energy sector, Martin Stickel, and the company's representatives. Viktor Richter, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany to Armenia, also participated in the meeting.
The Prime Minister welcomed the visit of the delegation of the German company to Armenia as a result of the meeting held in Munich in February of this year and emphasized the development of the renewable energy sector in our country.
Issues related to further cooperation between the Armenian government and Fichtner company were discussed.
It was agreed to continue discussions with the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, as well as the Ministry of Economy, for coordinating future activities.
Earlier the German company prepared a package of tender proposals for the Armenia-Georgia power transmission line construction project. However, the tenders held did not reveal winners, since there were no competitive bids. Two companies - Siemens and ABB, participating in two lots in the prequalification tender, did not submit financial proposals for the construction of either the Ddmashen substation itself or the DC insert.
The participation of European companies in the construction of power lines was a requirement of the German bank KfW, which allocated financial resources for this purpose. Against the background of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the emergence of electricity shortages, European countries began to pay more attention to the construction of renewable generation facilities, mainly wind power plants, in which European companies participating in the tender were also involved, declaring their workload until 2028. The Armenian side intends to involve Chinese companies and the American concern General Electric in the construction, negotiations with which are not yet ongoing, since it is necessary to make changes to the project, and instead of the substation in Ddmashen, build a similar substation at the Hrazdan Thermal Power Plant.
Negotiations are currently underway on this issue with KfW, the results of which will become known within the next month. The preliminary cost of the Armenia-Georgia power transmission line construction program, according to Fichtner, is 326.9 million euros, 10% of which should be part of the Georgian contribution. For these purposes, three loan agreements were signed in 2014-2015. In particular, the German bank KfW allocated 168 million euros in the form of a loan, and another 10 million euros will be provided by the European Investment Bank. It is expected to receive another 10 million euros in grant from the European Commission. As for the Iran-Armenia high-voltage power line, this project is financed by the Iranian side, the total cost of the program is $107 million. However, taking into account the new sanctions imposed by the United States against Iran, there is concern about a reduction in the volume of this investment program.
