A 100GW NPP is needed to ensure the energy security of the South Caucasus, Turkey and Iran

A 100GW NPP and a 10bln c m underground gas storage facility are needed to ensure the energy security of the South Caucasus, Turkey and Iran, Vice President of the Georgian Academy of Natural Sciences Alexander Tvalchrelidze told ArmInfo on Thursday.

He said that the International Energy Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy forecast a steady growth in global energy consumption till 2040.  "In order to keep pace, Armenia and Georgia should increase their generating capacities by respective 0.6% and 1% annually," Tvalchrelidze said.

He said that the 1,060MW NPP Armenia is going to build will be enough for this country only but not for the whole region. "It should be a European-type NPP, like those in France, and should be built in Northern Turkey, Northern Iran or Armenia," Tvalchrelidze said.

He also recommends building a large underground gas storage facility.  "The Abovyan facility in Armenia can hold no more than 180mln c m. This will hardly do for more than 30 days, while the new facility should hold as much as 10bln c m - a quantity that will meet the whole region's needs for as long as 3-4 months," Tvalchrelidze said, adding that the new facility may be built in Georgia.

"In order to synchronize our energy systems, we need no less than 500KV lines. The existing ones allow Armenia to synchronize its system with Iran and Georgia but not with Turkey and Azerbaijan - for political reasons. In its turn, Georgia's system is synchronized with Armenia and Azerbaijan but not with Russia, Iran and Turkey. There must not be politics in the energy sector. Israel and the Gaza Strip effectively cooperate in this field despite their political problems. The same is true for Turkey and Cyprus. So, we should come together and form a joint wholesale energy market involving not only the South Caucasus but also Turkey and Iran," Tvalchrelidze said.