Nuclear energy development in the Republic of Armenia IAEA, Amsterdam 21-23 June
Geography and Climate The Republic of Armenia is a landlocked mountainous country bordered on the north by the Republic of Georgia, on the east and southwest by Azerbaijan, on the south by Iran and on the west by Turkey. The northern border is 196 km long, the border with Azerbaijan is 913 km; the southern border has a length of 42 km and the western border, 280 km. The land area of the republic is 29 743 km 2. The terrain is defined by the high Armenian Plateau with mountains, little forestation and fast flowing rivers. The average height above sea level is about 1800 metres. The climate is highland continental with hot and dry summers and cold winters. Annual average temperature varies from -2.7 C to 13.8 C. The coldest month is January (from 1.2 C to -12.8 C) and the hottest months are July and August (from 25.8 C to 28.7 C). Summer temperatures may rise to 46 C, winter temperatures reach a minimum of -46 C. Summer relative humidity is 32-45% (July-August), winter relative humidity is 80-90%. Annual rainfall varies from 220 mm to 900 mm. The annual maximum sunshine is 2780 hours (Lake Sevan area), and minimum annual sunshine is 1930 hours (Ijevan)
Population Economic Indicators Population (millions) 3.010 Population density (inhabitants/km 2 ) 101.2 GDP (millions of current USD) 10893 GDP (millions of constant 2005-USD) 7102 Urban Population** as % of total 63.5 GDP per capita (current USD/capita) 3618.9 Area (1000 km 2 ) 29.743
Main Indicators installed capacity Currently in operation (strategic projects) Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (new nuclear power unit) Razdan TPP Razdan TPP Unit 5 Yerevan TPP Yerevan TPP (new combined steam-gaz cycle ) Capacity, MW 407.5 ( up to 600) 800 450 550 210 Sevan Razdan cascade HPP 556 Vorotan cascade HPP 404 Small HPP (New small HPP) 287 (390) Wind energy (potential of wind energy) 2,6 (490)
Main Indicators production 2015 On January 1, 2015 the total capacity of the electric energy generating plants in Armenia was 4.06 GW(e). In 2015, electricity production was 7.8 billion kwh. b kwh ANPP 2.79 THH 2.7798 HPP 1.368 SHPP 0.8394 WPP 0.005 Total 7.7822 0.050291692 8.442969221 13.75980688 27.96016898 35.85104469 Armenian NPP Termal PP Hydro SHPP Wind
Main Indicators 0.07 0.064249184 7.83 11.11 10.78615302 35.85104469 26.18 17.57857675 54.81 35.71997636 Nuclear Thermal Hydro Small Hydro Wind Armenian NPP Termal PP Hydro SHPP Wind
NUCLEAR POWER SITUATION Historical Development and current organizational structure A decision to construct a nuclear power plant in Armenia was made by the former USSR Council of Ministers, and the appropriate decree was issued in September 1966. The technical specification to design the ANPP was developed by Teploelectroproject in 1968 and approved in August 1969 under decree N 1624 R.C. of the former USSR Ministry of Energy. More than 20 potential sites were considered for the ANPP construction, and finally a site was selected in the western part of the Ararat valley, 16 km from Turkish border, 10 km to the northeast of region centre Hoktemberyan (Armavir), and 28 km (to the west) from Yerevan. In accordance with that specification, the capacity of the ANPP (first stage of construction) with VVER-440 type reactors was to be 815.0 MW, each unit of 407.5 MW. The ANPP design life-time was specified to be 30 years.
NUCLEAR POWER SITUATION The comprehensive studies and analyses showed that seismic conditions of the ANPP site were characterized an intensity level of eight-point s according to MSK-64 scale. It was the first nuclear power plant in the USSR intended to be constructed in a region of high seismicity. The specific nature of the ANPP site - its seismicity - caused significant changes in the design of VVER-440/230, not only in construction, but also in the design of the reactor facility as a whole, and the reactor was assigned with the new identification V-270. The design of the reactor was based on the project of Unit 3 and 4 of the Novovoronezh NPP. The reactor building, auxiliary building, ventilation stack, as well as the buildings and structures containing equipment and instrumentation of safety systems or safety-related on-line systems and communications connecting these structures were assigned with a category of High Importance. They were considered to have one point more seismic resistance than that of the ANPP site. The ANPP was commissioned in 1976, achieving initial criticality for Unit 1 on 22 December 1976 and for Unit 2 on 5 January 1980. The units were put into commercial operation on 6 October, 1977 and 3 May 1980, respectively.
NUCLEAR POWER SITUATION After the 1988 earthquake, although the ANPP was not damaged, the Council of Ministers of the USSR decreed to shut down the ANPP as a precautionary measure. Unit 1 was shut down on 25 February, 1989 and Unit 2 on 18 March, 1989. The units were not decommissioned, but kept in prolonged shut down condition. Apart from those which occurred during the short period of regaining independence, there have been no strong antinuclear movements in Armenia. The current sentiment of the public can be explained not by lack of awareness of the risks involved in the utilization of nuclear energy, but, in the face of the difficult economic conditions, by the considerably lower price of nuclear electricity, which outweighs its possible risks
NUCLEAR POWER SITUATION In April 1993, the Government of Armenia decided to restart Unit 2 of the ANPP in order to overcome the severe economic crisis, taking into account the lack in national energy resources. Following 6.5 years of outage, with the technical and financial help of the Russian Federation, Unit 2 of the ANPP was restarted on 5 November 1995. Unit 1 remained in a state of stand-still. According to the decision of the RA Government minutes on 27 March 2014 the works for the extension of the Armenian NPP Unit 2 design lifetime have been launched. After the execution of the work the relevant documents will be submitted to the Armenian Nuclear Regulatory Authority to receive the Unit s exploitation license for the period beginning September 2016. Following the ANPP restart, 35.85 billion kwh of electric energy had been generated by 1 January, keeping to the load schedule of the Armenian power system.
Armenia-Georgia 400 kv OHL Project on construction of Armenia-Georgia 400 kv transmission line has a great importance in view of regional integration. The aim of Armenia-Georgia 400 kv project is to connect Armenian and Georgian power systems through construction of high voltage direct current ( HVDC ) Back-to Back ( BtB ) convertor as well as 500/400/220 kv substation in Ayrum (Republic of Armenia, near Georgian border) (ultimate capacity of 1050 MW).
Armenia-Georgia 400 kv OHL The first stage of the project involves construction of 500/400/220 kv high-voltage converter station with capacity of 350 MW and construction of 500 kv overhead transmission line with 8 km length from converter station to Georgian border, which will provide up to 220 MW electricity flow. The cost of the first phase is 105 mln Euro. For the implementation of the first phase the following Loan Agreements were signed: Loan Agreement with KfW Bank on 75 mln Euro and 10.2 mln Euro on December 9, 2014 and on March 16, 2015 accordingly and Loan Agreement with the European Investment Bank on 10 mln Euro. Up 10 mln Euro grand will be provided within the EU NIF facility.
Armenia-Georgia 400 kv OHL In 2018 after putting into operation Armenia-Georgia 400/500 kv Transmission line with HVDC substation there will be an opportunity to work with Georgian power system in parallel non-synchronized regime and to implement power exchange on amount about 350 MW for the first stage with the prospect of increase transfer capacity to 700 MW in 2021.
«North-South» Energy Corridor Joint meeting dedicated to regional cooperation with participation of the energy ministers of Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Russia and general director of Russian Rosseti OJSC was held in Yerevan on 23 December 2015. "Memorandum of Understanding" was signed on agreements obtained during the meeting. Taking into consideration the favourable conditions for development of new regional projects, the participants discussed the possibilities of further development of cooperation in the energy sector, particularly the regional projects that will give an opportunity to work with power systems of the 4 countries, increase the efficiency of their operations, power exchange management, security and reliability.
«North-South» Energy Corridor This initiative is giving new impetus to energy cooperation between Armenia, Georgia Iran and Russia. It creates a favourable conditions taking into consideration that the Armenian power system with Iran as well as the Georgia power system with Russian Federation is working in parallel synchronized regime, and on the other hand, a number of investment projects are foreseen to implement in the energy sector to increase the transmission capacity. These measures aim to implement the North-South Corridor initiative for electricity exchange that will make possible to work with EAEU and EU power systems. The issue is interesting not only for the countries of the region, but also is supported and assisted by the United States and European Union countries. ent in the energy sector to increase the transmission capacity.
«North-South» Energy Corridor Within the framework of Energy Charter North- South" Energy Corridor (NOSEC) the Ministerial Task Force on Regional Electricity Cooperation in South Caucasus took place in Tbilisi on 1 July 2015 held in Tbilisi. Second ministerial meeting was held in Tbilisi, on 11 of April 2016. Second meeting within the framework of Energy Charter was held in Yerevan in May 2016.
Future Development of Nuclear Power According to the decision of the RA Government minutes on 27 March 2014 the works for the extension of the Armenian NPP Unit 2 design lifetime have been launched. After the execution of the work the relevant documents will be submitted to the Armenian Nuclear Regulatory Authority to receive the Unit s exploitation license for the period beginning September 2016. The Energy Security Ensuring Concept of the Republic of Armenia was adopted by the President of RA on 23 October 2013 according to which Armenia will continue to exploit the existing nuclear unit until the construction of the new one. Action Plan for provision the energy security concept of the republic of Armenia for 2014-2020 was adopted by the Government Decree 836-N as of 31 July 2014. According to the action plan in 2026 should be put into operation the new nuclear power plant up to 1000 MW capacity. The document on Long-term (up to 2036) development pathways for RA energy sector has been approved by the RA government protocol decision 54-13, on 10 December 2015. Nuclear scenario of development has been once again stated. According to that document taking into account the energy consumption and the needs to ensure the energy security of the country is necessary to build the new nuclear power plant up to 600 MW capacities.
Feasible Renewable Energy by Technology Solar 40 MW Hydro 370MW Wind 200MW Geothermal 25MW
Best Practices in Developing RET in Armenia: Case on SHPPs FIT Guaranteed PPA 15 years IFIs concessional lending 2006 Reasonable commercial financing from banks 175 SHPPs are operational (100% private) 40 SHPPs are under construction Generation of 2015 837 mln. kwth Overall investment > $350 mln. FITs: SHPP /natural flow/ -23.631 AMD/kWh - $0.049 SHPP /irrigation/ - 15.751 AMD/kWh -$0.033 SHPP /drinking water/ - 10.502 AMD/kWh -$0.023 (in force from 01.07.2015) End user tariffs /population/- 48.78 AMD/kWh (day)-$0.10; 38.78 AMD/kWh (night) - $0.08 (exchange rate: as of 19.09.2015)
Scaling up Renewable Energy Geothermal power exploration and development through exploratory drilling and resource assessment Program (SREP) Utility-scale solar PV power plant developments by PPP based on resource assessment and feasibility studies Promotion of geothermal heat pump and solar thermal projects through local banks
SREP Current Developments: Solar PV Solar resource assessment for 4 locations and creation of precise solar resource map is in progress Feasibility Studies and Transaction Advisory Consultant is preparing the financing scheme and bidding documents for utility scale solar power plants Feasibility Studies for 6 sites to be completed in summer 2016
PV Yield Map
SREP Current Developments: Geothermal Construction of the access road to the main explored site is in progress Exploratory drilling contractor has been selected Investors to be attracted in 2017-18
Current situation Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) for wind, SHPP and biogas, solar PV (to be decided in late 2016) Tariff adjustment mechanism PPA 20 years <150 kw no license for RES power plants, net metering is enabled, excess generation sold to the grid