The Government of Armenia has officially selected Masdar, one of the world’s leading renewable energy companies, as the winning bidder for the tender for a utility-scale solar project.

The Armenian Government had implemented an international tender following Masdar’s initial offer of $0,0299/kWh in December 2019. After a competitive process, Masdar submitted a final price of $0,0290/kWh.

The 200-megawatt (MW) plant will be located in the Talin and Dashtadem communities of Armenia, in an area where solar radiation is both high and land is unusable for agricultural purposes.

The project will be developed on a design, finance, build, own, and operate (DFBOO) basis and the project company will be 85 percent owned by Masdar, with the Armenian National Interest Fund CJSC (ANIF) holding 15 percent.

Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, said: “By winning the tender for Armenia’s biggest utility-scale solar project, Masdar enters an exciting new phase in our collaboration with our partners at ANIF and with the Armenian government. This is a vital stage in Armenia’s clean energy journey:  low-cost solar energy will help power new industries, generate jobs and set the country on the path to a prosperous and truly sustainable future. Masdar is proud to be helping Armenia achieve its ambitious renewable energy targets and we look forward to exploring more opportunities in the nation, which has great potential for further developing its clean energy infrastructure.”

David Papazian, CEO of ANIF, said: “From Chairman down, we have worked very hard to finalize this deal. It feels like it has been ages that we are working on this process, but we realize that this is by far the largest single foreign investment in green energy in the region and the second largest foreign direct investment in the history of modern Armenia. We are both lucky and proud to have Masdar as our partner in this most crucial phase of Armenia’s energy mix diversification and evolution to towards renewables.”

Around US$174 million will be invested, with a new substation also built. The plant will span over 500 hectares, and will create numerous direct and indirect jobs. The tender was part of the Joint Development Agreement signed between Masdar and ANIF in November 2019, to develop renewable energy projects with a total capacity of 400 MW in Armenia. Further discussions are under way on the development of the remaining 200 MW.