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In the early years of independence Armenia’s energy situation was in crisis, however, the country didn’t surrender to the darkness and scarcity, instead with the support of its partners, like the United Stated, Armenia developed an energy system to not only meet its needs but also in fact export its electricity, the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills told on Wednesday at a forum devoted to the opportunities for renewable energy development in Armenia.

To note, the event was organized by the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, the U.S. Commercial Service, Armenia’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and ContourGlobal. The session has brought together leading U.S. companies and around 70 Armenian business leaders to explore new technologies and best practice.

Ambassador Mills pointed with satisfaction that just in five years Armenian production of electricity grew 20 per cent, which is the reason behind the U.S Embassy and Administration efforts to continuously look for investments opportunities in the sector. Among major investment projects realized in the sphere Ambassador Mills recalled the acquisition of the Vorotan Hydro Cascade by ContourGlobal. 

Richard Mills next pointed out the existing challenges in the energy sector, the old-age Soviet-era infrastructure among them. He pointed out Armenia’s need for increased energy diversification and the security of its energy infrastructure, wishing to see regional interconnection of the infrastructure particularly with Georgia 

“The U.S. government will continue to be a partner with Armenia as it addresses those particular challenges,” stressed the Ambassador. 

“The [Armenian] government itself has been leading the efforts in diversifying the nations’ energy sector into renewables and of boosting energy efficiency programs,” said Mills, referring the mechanisms and initiatives aimed at growing renewable and solar energy production.

The Ambassador expressed hoped that American firms will to meet with Armenian peers, share experience with companies and suppliers to develop new partnerships and assess investment possibilities, stressing the investment potential of the sector in Armenia is close to 8 billion US dollars.