Contour Global Hydro Cascade (U.S.) has been granted a license to run the Vorotan Cascade of HPPs for 25 years. The relevant decision was taken at today's meeting of the Public Services Regulatory Commission of Armenia (PSRC).
On June 8, Armenian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Yervand Zakharyan, Director General of the Vorotan Cascade of HPPs Sasun Khachatryan and Contour Global Hydro Cascade representative Joseph Brandt signed the agreement on the sale of the property of "Vorotan Cascade of HPPs" CJSC to the American corporation. The property of the Vorotan Cascade of HPPs (Armenia) has been sold to Contour Global (U.S.) for AMD 88 bln (USD 182 million). Minister Yervand Zakharyan said that the payments will be made in two tranches The first part of the payment (50%) will be made now, and the other part will be made in a year. The American company is also to serve the 51 mln EUR loan previously provided by KfW for modernization of the Cascade. As regards the staff of the Cascade, all the 230 employees will retain their jobs within the next year. Their wages will be changed with due regard for the new management. According to the agreement, within the next 3-4 years the electric power tariff of the Cascade will grow from the current 7.5 AMD per 1 kWh to 20 AMD.
"Vorotan Cascade of HPPs" CJSC, which was a 100% state-run company before the deal, comprises three hydro-power plants (Tatev, Shamb and Spandaryan) with a total capacity of 404.2MW on the River Vorotan and its tributaries. The designed capacity of the Cascade is 1.16 bln kWh electric power per annum. The Cascade needs modernization and this acquisition represents the largest single U.S. private investment in Armenia's economy and the first U.S. investment in Armenia's energy sector.
ContourGlobal is a New York based international power-generation company with approximately 3,500 MW in operations or under construction in 17 countries in Africa, Europe, Latin America and North America. ContourGlobal's 1,650 employees manage, own and operate a portfolio of 33 power plants utilizing a wide range of fuel types and technologies including renewable energy production based upon Hydro, wind, solar and biomass, as well as an extensive fleet of conventionally powered thermal power plants. In the wider Eastern Europe area, ContourGlobal currently owns and operates approximately 1100 MW of power generation businesses in Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania, and Poland.