“Aig-1” Solar Project EIA Gets Approved

The Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Armenia issued a positive conclusion for the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report of the construction of the “Aig-1” photovoltaic plant, a joint project of the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) and Masdar, an Abu Dhabi based leading renewable energy company.

Conditional requirements for the positive conclusion include, for example:

• Safeguarding the stipulated environmental requirements and measures during the implementation of the works
• Maintaining the permissible level of emitted dust and generated noise and vibrations defined by RA legislation.
• Fulfillment of the design norms and environmental requirements stipulated in the EIA report, implementation of the planned social projects, etc.

According to the EIA report submitted by the contactor responsible for the implementation of the EIA works, EA Energy Advisory, the duration of the construction of the station will be 18-24 months.

During construction, there will be practically no hazardous materials generation, as the maintenance of vehicles and construction equipment will be performed at specialized stations.

The solar plant is planned to operate for 20 years (unless operations are extended). Post operation all temporary structures will be dismantled, the construction waste will be transferred to the landfill allocated by the community. Parts of the station where earthworks were carried out during the construction phase, including the area of the substation, will be restored with vegetation typical of the local climatic conditions.

After the construction work is completed, the construction camps must be dismantled and the landscape must be restored.

The 200 megawatt solar power plant “Aig-1” will be built on the administrative land of Talin and Dashtadem communities of the Talin agglomerated community and will become the largest solar power plant in Armenia. It will provide more than half of the renewable energy share of Armenia’s planned renewable capacity envisioned for 2030. About 200 million US dollars will be invested in the construction of the station. The project is expected to start operations in 2025.