Iran and Armenia to Build Hydro Power Plant on Araks River

The Araks River is 665 miles (1072 km) in length. It flows near Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey.

Armenian energy minister Armen Movsisian said last week the feasibility plan for construction of a hydro power plant on the border River of Araks separating Armenia form Iran was ready. He said the construction was set to start early next year.

He said the hydro power plant, which will be located near the southern Armenian town of Meghri, will have a 130-140 megawatt capacity to generate annually about 850 million kilowatt/hours electricity.

Movsisian said it will be a unique hydro power plant in this region to benefit both Iran and Armenia.

Alternative sources of energy are always great, but we should consider the possible ecological damage of building such a large plant. The same source states that there are 50 small plants already on Araks and 50 more being constructed. This to me is the equivalent of rape of a river's resources, as there are many types of fish that live there including sezan, loko (a kind of cat fish), tolstolobik, karas, tarap, and karmrakhait. There are several other issues with hydroelectric plants, as well, and you can read about them here.

Source: ArmenPress
Source about fishes: ArmeniaInfo