Investment cost of $100m expected for 30 MW geothermal project in Armenia

View over Kapan, southern Armenia (source: flickr/ Gregor Samsa, creative commons)

Alexander Richter 24 Nov 2016

With a second well being drilled, hopes are up for the development of a 30 MW geothermal power plant in Southern Armenia with an expected investment of $100 million needed for development.

Following drilling for a geothermal project in Armenia financed by the World Bank, hopes are up for the development of a 30 MW geothermal power plant in the southern part of Armenia near the twon of Sisian.

The overall investment cost for the project is exepcted at $100 million, according to the Deputy Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources Hayk Harutyunyan in a news piece from Armenia today.

Geothermal exploration is still underway on the site, but with a second well having reached a depth of 1,675m, everyone is positive. The next step for the project will be a feasibility study for the project and launching a tender to seek the developer for the plant

He stressed that the next step will be to prepare the feasibility study of the project and announce a tender to choose the investor that would offer the lowest price.

The drilling near Sisisan (Karkar village) was financed by a World Bank grant worth $8.55 million. According to preliminary estimates, the geothermal power plant in Karkar will have the capacity of 30-50 megawatts. It will be able to operate 7,000 hours per year, the highest among other alternative sources of energy.

Source: ARKA News Agency