The Sevan-Razdan cascade of hydroelectric power plants in Armenia is to be transferred into the ownership of Russia's Unified Energy Systems (UES) under an agreement signed in mid-July, according to the Interfax news agency. UES' ownership of the cascade is likely to be effective by 1 September this year.
The cascade is being transferred in order to pay off an Armenian debt owed to Russia for the supply of nuclear fuel to Armenia’s only nuclear power plant.
The Armenian government’s obligations to Germany’s KfW bank for a credit worth US$20M used to modernise the cascade has also been transferred to UES. The credit was used to rehabilitate the fifth and sixth generating units of 25MW capacity each at the Kanaker hydro plant.
The Sevan-Razdan cascade comprises six hydroelectric power plants of a total installed capacity of 560MW, producing an annual average of 8.94BkWh of electricity.