Who is not interested in having cheap electricity?
How can we develop alternative renewable energy sources in Armenia? The participants of a roundtable discussion at the EcoLur Press Club were trying to answer the question. They say many people do not know that numerous steps have been taken in this direction, despite the indifference of politicians, whereas European countries switched to alternative energy sources long ago. Levon Dokhoyan, a lawmaker of the Rule of Law Party (OEK) and Hovsep Khurshudyan, a member of the Heritage Party, who were supposed to attend today’s discussion, did not show up at the meeting for different reasons. Vahan Hamazaspyan, a leading advocate for developing renewable energy in Armenia and author of a helioification program– consumption of solar energy, says as a scientist he feels ashamed that our government does not want to do anything for the economy and does not pay attention to the development of solar energy. “This is a political, rather than economic issue. I applied to the Secretary of the National Security Council [Artur Baghdasaryan] asking him to help the spread and mass production of solar devices. But he did nothing and today his party is holding incomprehensible rallies against the planned electricity price hike.” Tamara Babayan, Director of the Renewable Resources and Energy Efficiency Fund, says Armenia has gone far ahead in terms of renewable energy resources, and has a favorable legislative field to use it. Vahan Hamazaspyan is the author of a device called ‘Combined HelioSystem,’ which, he says, is a necessity for a country like Armenia. The device is a mirror, combined with a parabola system, which can accumulate the solar energy in one point. The thermal capacity of the device, depending on the area, ranges from 3.3 kilowatts to 3.7 kilowatts.
