Masdar wins tender to develop solar energy project in Armenia(Translated)

July 15, 2021

 Dhabi Future Energy Company “Masdar”,

one of the world’s leading companies in the field of renewable energy, has won the tender for the development of a utility-scale solar power project with a capacity of 200 megawatts.

The Armenian government had held an international tender following Masdar’s initial offer of $0.0299 per kilowatt-hour for electricity production in December 2019 and after a competitive process, Masdar submitted a final price of $0.0290 per kilowatt-hour.

The 200 MW plant project will be built in Tallinn and Dashtdam in Armenia in an area with abundant sunshine and on uncultivable land.

The development of the project includes design, financing, build, own and operate operations, and the developing company will be 85 percent owned by Masdar, while the National Interests Fund of Armenia will own 15 percent.

“Winning the tender to develop the largest utility-scale solar project in Armenia marks a new phase of cooperation between Masdar, the Armenian government and the National Interests Fund,” said Mohamed Jamil Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar.

“This project is an important step in Armenia’s journey to transition to clean energy, as low-cost solar energy will power new industries, create jobs and pave the way for building a prosperous and sustainable future,” he added.

 

Al Ramahi expressed Masdar’s pride in contributing to supporting Armenia in achieving its ambitious renewable energy goals , and  “we look forward to exploring more opportunities in the country, which has great potential to develop clean energy infrastructure.”

For his part, David Papazian, CEO of the National Interests Fund of Armenia, said: “We have made great efforts to complete this important transaction, which is by far the largest single foreign investment in green energy in the region and the second largest foreign direct investment in Armenia’s modern history.” .

“We are proud of our partnership with Masdar at this pivotal stage of Armenia’s journey to diversify the energy mix and transition to renewables,” he added.

About 174 million US dollars will be invested to construct the project and a new sub-station as well. The station project extends over an area of ​​more than 500 hectares and will provide many direct and indirect jobs.

The tender comes within the framework of the joint development agreement signed between Masdar and the National Interests Fund in November 2019 to develop renewable energy projects with a total capacity of 400 megawatts in Armenia. Negotiations are currently underway to complete this agreement and develop other projects with a capacity of 200 megawatt