Armenia has embarked on implementation of two big projects with the Islamic Republic of Iran, Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan said on sidelines of Baze-2015 Pan- Armenian Youth Gathering in the resort town of Tsakhkadzor, on August 17.
"About 10 days ago, we signed a contract on the construction of the third power transmission line that will enable Armenia to import more gas in exchange for export of more electricity. The capacity of Iran-Armenia gas pipeline is 2 billion cubic meters, but the country imports only 400-450 million cubic meters," the prime minister said adding that the construction will be completed within 2 years and will require EUR107.9 million. On August 9, Iran and Armenia signed a new contract for the construction of the third power transmission line that will enable the two countries to exchange more electricity. The contract was signed by Ali Salehabadi, managing director of the Export Development Bank of Iran (EDBI), and Aram Ananian, managing director of Armenia's High Voltage Electricity Network (HVEN) company in Tehran on Sunday.
According to the contract, EDBI will provide 83 million EUR of the total 107.9 EUR million needed to build the power line. The remaining 23% of the amount will be provided by Iranian Sanir Company. HVEN signed a contract on it with Sanir on August 12. The project is scheduled to be implemented in 24 months to pave the way for the exchange of electricity between Iran and Armenia. The power lines will extend 279km. After construction of the third line, it would be possible for the two countries to exchange 700 MW of electricity, thus increasing total volume of power exchanged between the two sides to 1,000 MW.
To recall, earlier the project cost was estimated at 107.9 million EUR. Iran was to provide the given amount in terms of a loan, including the 83.083 mln EUR loan signed in Sept 2011 and additional 24.817 mln EUR - in April 2012. Under the loan agreement, the construction of the third power line was to be completed within 18 months since the moment of financing. However, the construction was repeatedly postponed due to the West's sanctions against Iran.