Description: From Crisis to Stability in the Armenian Power Sector : Lessons Learned from Armenia's Energy Reform Experience

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From Crisis to Stability in the Armenian Power Sector : Lessons Learned from Armenia's Energy Reform Experience

In the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse, Armenia, like other former Soviet republics, began to struggle with the implications of its newfound independence. In the electricity sector, this meant learning how to manage and sustain a fragment...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Sargsyan, Gevorg, Balabanyan, Ani, Hankinson, Denzel
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Washington, DC: World Bank 2012
Subjects:	ACCOUNTING CONSOLIDATION DEBT DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES DISTRIBUTION ENTITIES ELECTRIC UTILITY ELECTRICITY ELECTRICITY CRISIS ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION COMPANY ELECTRICITY INDUSTRY ELECTRICITY PRICES ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION ELECTRICITY REFORMS ELECTRICITY SALES ELECTRICITY SECTOR ELECTRICITY SUPPLY ELECTRICITY THEFT EMERGING MARKETS ENERGY BALANCE ENERGY CONSUMPTION ENERGY CRISIS ENERGY EFFICIENCY ENERGY LAW ENERGY POLICIES ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION ENERGY SECTOR ENERGY SECTOR REFORM ENERGY SUPPLY ENERGY SYSTEMS EXTERNALITIES FINANCIAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT FINANCIAL MARKETS FINANCIAL REFORM FUEL FUEL OIL GAS PIPELINE GAS SUPPLY GENERATING CAPACITY GENERATION GENERATION ASSETS GENERATION SECTOR GENERATORS GRID GRID INFRASTRUCTURE HEATING HYDROPOWER GENERATION ILLEGAL CONNECTIONS INDEPENDENT REGULATOR KILOWATT HOUR LEGAL FRAMEWORK LEGAL STATUS LITIGATION LOW-VOLTAGE METER READING NATIONAL ENERGY SECURITY NATURAL GAS NATURAL RESOURCES NUCLEAR POWER OIL EQUIVALENT POWER CONSUMERS POWER PLANT POWER PLANTS POWER SECTOR POWER SECTOR ASSETS POWER SECTOR INVESTMENT POWER SECTOR PRIVATIZATION POWER SECTOR REFORM POWER SECTOR REFORMS POWER SECTOR RESTRUCTURING POWER SHORTAGES POWER SYSTEM PRIMARY FUELS PRIVATE SECTOR PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION PRIVATIZATION PROPERTY RIGHTS PUBLIC SERVICES PUBLIC UTILITIES PUMPING REGULATORS REGULATORY CHANGES REGULATORY COMMISSION REGULATORY COMMISSIONS REGULATORY FRAMEWORK REGULATORY REFORMS RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS RETAIL TARIFFS SERVICE DELIVERY SERVICE QUALITY SERVICE QUALITY STANDARDS SMALL HYDROPOWER STATE UTILITY STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT SUBSIDIARY TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE THERMAL PLANTS TRANSMISSION UNBUNDLING UTILITY BILLS WATER SECTOR WATER USE WATER UTILITIES
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/01/6638103/crisis-stability-armenian-power-sector-lessons-learned-armenias-energy-reform-experience http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6987

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Summary:	In the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse, Armenia, like other former Soviet republics, began to struggle with the implications of its newfound independence. In the electricity sector, this meant learning how to manage and sustain a fragment of a system that had never been designed to function as a stand-alone grid. Armenia's electricity system-and, indeed, its entire energy supply system-had been designed to operate as part of a much larger, integrated Trans-Caucasus system. Plants were built to run on fuel imported from thousands of miles away, from neighbors who, with the Soviet Union gone, could offer little certainty that such supply would continue under terms that Armenia could afford. The problems with this system began to show in 1992. The start of the war over Nagorno Karabakh, and the resulting imposition by Azerbaijan and Turkey of an economic blockade, cut off Armenia's only source of gas and oil for its thermal plants. Four years prior to that, a massive earthquake had forced a shut down of the Medzamor nuclear power plant, a source of roughly one-third of Armenia's generating capacity. Supply from a new gas pipeline, built in 1993 through neighboring Georgia, was regularly interrupted by acts of sabotage. Armenia was left to rely almost entirely on its hydropower resources, at great expense to Lake Sevan, one of the country's most precious natural resources.