Armenia not part of talks for Azerbaijan-Russia-Iran power grid synchronization – ministry

BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 13. Armenia's participation in the power grid synchronization project involving Azerbaijan, Russia, and Iran has never been on the table for discussion, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Energy told Trend.

The comments came in response to Russia's statement about the possibility of supplying electricity to Armenia through Azerbaijan.

Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov had previously expressed Russia's interest in providing electricity to Armenia via Azerbaijan. He mentioned that they were exploring the possibility of transmitting electricity through Azerbaijan to Armenia, then potentially onward to other countries, with an initial amount of 300 MW.

Azerbaijan’s Energy Ministry noted that the technical and economic aspects of the feasibility study (TES) for synchronizing the energy systems of Azerbaijan, Russia, and Iran have been prepared by Monenco company of Iran.

“Discussions on the technical aspect involving representatives from the three countries began on August 21 and are ongoing. After concluding the technical discussions, the economic aspects of the feasibility study will be assessed. Armenia is not involved in this process, and its participation has not been a subject of consideration. The technical report prepared by the consultant offers various options for the volume of electricity to be transferred from Russia to Iran through Azerbaijan as part of the effort to link the energy systems of the three countries. Among these options is the transmission of 300 MW of electricity, but such an undertaking would require extensive work, necessitating the development of the economic component,” said the ministry.

Additionally, one of the proposed options entails transferring 100 MW from Russia to Iran.

“During a meeting held on August 10, deputy energy ministers from the three countries discussed the project's further steps. At that meeting, Russia and Iran raised the issue of transmitting at least 100 MW of power from Russia to Iran through Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani side emphasized that its energy system operates in parallel mode within a single synchronous zone with Russia and stressed the need for a thorough examination of this proposal in the context of ensuring energy security,” said the ministry.

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