The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering financing a 200 MW AC solar power plant in Armenia, to be built by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company Masdar.
The utility-scale project to be located in the towns of Talin and Dashtadem in Aragatsotn region was won by Masdar in mid-2021 for the lowest winning bid of $0.290/kWh, under a tender organized by the Armenia Renewable Resources and Energy Efficiency (R2E2) (see Armenia Awards Masdar 200 MW Solar Project Tender).
The expected project cost is $186.6 million, out of which Masdar seeks to secure a limited recourse finance facility of up to $41 million and a concessional loan of around $6 million from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF). The bank will take the final decision on November 28, 2023.
It will enable the company to finance the development, design, construction and operation of the project that the bank says will contribute to the strategic priority of the Armenian government of increasing the share of renewables in the national energy mix. This will lower the country's dependence on fossil-fuels, it added.
Masdar plans to locate the project on 525 hectares of low-quality agricultural land in Talin community, and grid-connect it to an existing substation through a new overhead line. It says that the agricultural use of the site by local communities is limited to seasonal grazing.
According to the bank, the 200 MW AC project will be the 2nd utility-scale power generation project in the country. Back in December 2020, a 5.2 MW DC solar power plant was commissioned by Armenia Optimum Energy which the module supplier Risen Energy called the country's 1st large-scale solar farm to have been connected to the grid (see Risen Bifacial Modules For 1st PV Plant In Armenia).
In September 2023, NEPSEN and Optimum Energy commissioned the 1st floating solar power plant in Armenia with 150 kW capacity in the national capital of Yerevan (see Armenia's Maiden Floating Solar Plant Online).
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