Residents of Talin Consolidated Community Expecting Social Support from “Ayg-1” Solar Photovoltaic Station Project

Residents of Talin Consolidated Community, Aragatsotn Region, expressed their support during public hearings regarding the construction project of "Aig-1" solar plant. The fourth public hearing on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the construction of the solar plant was held on April 12, 2023 in Tallinn Town and Dashtadem Settlement.

"Aig-1" solar plant with a capacity of 200 MW will be built in Talin and Dashtadem administrative areas and will occupy 547.31 hectares of land. According to the council's decision, the land plots were donated to the Republic of Armenia as represented by "Armenian National Interests Fund" CJSC, which has a 15% share in the "Masdar Armenia" company implementing the station construction project. 85% of the shares belong to the Abu Dhabi-based company "Masdar". The operation of the photovoltaic power plant is planned to launch in 2025.

At the two meetings, the representative of "Masdar" company Carlos Ponte and the representatives of "EA Energy Advisor" LLC, which prepared the EIA report, mentioned that 320 million AMD will be allocated to the community from "Masdar" company within the framework of the project. RA government will provide another 700 million AMD.

A total of 541 households in the affected four settlements - Talin, Dashtadem, Ashnak and Katnaghbyur, engage in livestock breeding, and the station area was mainly used for livestock breeding. According to the company's calculations, the loss of total pastures in Talin Town as a result of the implementation of the project will make up 6%, whereas this figure shall make up 17% in Dashtadem.

President of "EcoLur" Informational NGO Inga Zarafyan asked a question about electronic waste: "The issue of electronic waste is not described in any application. Our state does not have a regulatory base for electronic waste management. But this is a very important question. Panels go out of service for a variety of reasons, not just after 15 years. What is the possible annual volume of these wastes, where should they be stored, whether additional space should be provided for waste storage, who the financial burden of their utilization shall be vested on. These issues should be reflected in the EIA."

The representative of "EA Energy Edvaizor" company stated, "At the moment, we do not have the conditions required by the law, according to which we can carry out activities. When we reach the stage of waste utilization, we will be guided according to RA legislative requirements."

Administrative Head of Dashtadem emphasized that the waste should be accumulated in the area already owned by the station.

Carlos Ponte noted that the company is committed to solving the issue of waste after the end of the project. "The panels are not toxic if they are damaged during construction, they are not toxic for workers. We will store them in the station area until the end of the project. When we have a large quantity, we will process it," he said.