Siamanto Posted November 17, 2004 Report Share Posted November 17, 2004 ALTERNATIVE ENERGY IN ARMENIA Story and Photos Adapted from 'The Stone Garden Guide to Armenia and Karabagh,' By Matthew Karanian and Robert Kurkjian, reprinted with permission Yerevan Times (Armenia) November 12, 2004 Since the 1990s, Armenia has been grappling with how to resolve its energy shortages. Nuclear power delivers about 35 percent of Armenia's energy needs, but a government study several years ago determined that it might be possible to develop alternative sources of energy to replace nuclear as early as 2004. If sufficient alternative sources were developed, then the nuclear power plant could be shut down, according to an official who was the spokesman for Armenia's President Robert Kocharian at the time. People sometimes hear what they want to hear, however, and so the scuttlebutt for years was that Armenia had made a promise to decommission its Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant by this year. They did, sort of. The catch, of course, was that sufficient alternative sources had to be available, first. The year 2004 is almost over, but those alternative sources have not been developed - at least not to the extent necessary to serve as an alternative to nuclear power. Some progress is being made, however, especially with wind and solar-generated projects. WIND Renewable energy is cleaner than the traditional sources such as nuclear and thermal power. Solar and wind power do have an impact upon our environment, but they don't pollute the atmosphere - unless one considers the pollution that is emitted when the solar panels or wind turbines are manufactured. Armenia doesn't have a wind stream that is comparable to the Gulf Stream that exists in the US, but there is nevertheless some wind potential. Armenia is a mountainous country, and strong winds frequently develop on mountain ridges or on the saddles of mountain passes. Some of these local wind currents are legendary. At present, the economically viable capacity for wind energy is approximately equal to that of nuclear, about 500 MW, but wind energy development in Armenia is in its infancy. Still, wind energy is a strong contingency plan for Armenia. Testing is ongoing, but if wind power proves to be feasible, then Armenia could add wind-generated electricity to its power sources. Start-up costs for establishing wind as an alternative energy source would be insignificant compared to the cost of building a new nuclear power plant. Building a wind farm with a 10 megawatt capacity could cost $10 million to build, and another $1 million in legal fees. A new nuclear power plant might easily cost $1 billion. Plus, storing the radioactive waste - it cannot be `disposed' of - is an expensive and risky business. Start-up costs are only part of the equation, however. In order to be economically feasible, a site must have consistent annual wind speeds of roughly 8 meters per second. After the infrastructure is built, the price of wind power depends on the wind speed at the site. At 6 meters per second, it cannot compete with nuclear, coal or gas. But an annual wind speed of 8 meters per second beats coal, and starts to compete with gas and nuclear energy. At 9 meters per second wind beats them all. At this wind velocity, wind turbines can generate electricity for as little as three cents per kilowatt-hour, which is quite inexpensive. But whereas nuclear energy might continue to be a major contributor to Armenia's energy needs, wind might contribute no more than five percent of the country's electricity. Wind is therefore just one important alternative among a portfolio of energy sources. SOLAR Energy from the sun is more affordable than wind power for individual residences when the power does not get added to the country's electric grid. This is because the photo voltaic cells needed for solar power are far too costly to be used for the national electrical grid but they are more economical in areas that the electric grid doesn't reach. Artak Hambarian, the director of a solar energy project in Yerevan, estimates that it could take a business 20 or 30 years to earn enough savings in energy costs to pay for its investment in solar panels that are used to create electricity. Solar is especially economical for heating water, however. This is where solar power beats wind power. Solar energy generation capacity in Armenia is currently around 650 MW, but estimates for future capacity are as high as 3,500 MW. Unfortunately, says Hambarian, `this could take decades to achieve.' Hambarian is the Director of the Engineering Research Center (ERC) at the American University of Armenia (AUA). Hambarian says it could take $10 billion to convert all of Armenia's energy generation capacity to solar - assuming that anyone wanted to do that. `In the future it could all be solar,' he says. `But it would be too expensive.' Limited practical applications of solar energy have proven cost-effective for AUA, however. This University is supplied with hot water and with heating and cooling by a project that its academic engineers from ERC are working on. A solar photovoltaic system, also installed on the roof, provides electricity to a solar driven electric system that makes the University building independent from the electric grid and which serves to back-up the University internet servers. WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM ALTERNATIVE ENERGY? The thermal, nuclear and hydro facilities that Armenia inherited from the Soviet Union generate so much electricity that Armenia has been able to sell some of it to the Republic of Georgia. How might the cost of wind or solar energy compare with the cost of the existing nuclear energy program in Armenia? Could electricity generated by wind or solar be sold commercially, at a profit? It's difficult to compare the profitability of wind and nuclear generated energy in Armenia, because the nuclear energy that the country generates and sells is from a plant that was already here when the country gained independence. Wind-generated power would include start-up expenses that nuclear didn't have. What this means is that wind might not be exploitable today, but that it might become a better bargain when, or if, Armenia scraps nuclear power. Over time, wind and solar productions may attract more and more donor support from the government and from others. Wind power generates about 13,000 megawatts of electricity worldwide, with much of the increases of the past few years attributable to new installations in Germany and Spain. At the current rate of new construction, wind may surpass nuclear energy in total world capacity in just a few years. THE STONE GARDEN GUIDE TO ARMENIA, WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY TWO INSIDERS The photographers and authors of this story - Robert Kurkjian and Matthew Karanian - have traveled extensively in Armenia and have just released a new book about the region, `The Stone Garden Guide: Armenia and Karabagh.' The travel guide highlights conservation efforts in Armenia, including efforts at adopting renewable energy technologies, among its 304 pages. The guidebook is unique among Armenian-subject guidebooks for its beautiful color photography, its 25 color maps, and for the insider perspective of its authors. `The Stone Garden Guide: Armenia and Karabagh' is available by mail order from booksellers such as Amazon.com for $24.95. It is available in Yerevan from Artbridge Caf� on Abovian Street. More information about the book is available from www.StoneGardenProductions.com. http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg97067.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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