Ministry of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources (Armenia)

The Ministry of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources of Armenia () is the ministry responsible for the management of the energy systems, and control of the exploitation of natural resources in Armenia. It elaborates and implements the policies of the Republic of Armenia Government in the energy sector.
Its history can be traced to the time that Armenia was still in the Soviet Union. Since that time, many ministers have changed, as well the official name of the ministry, while maintaining the word 'energy' in its name. As of 2016, it is one of the 18 ministries in Armenia, and plays an important role in regulating the laws and policies regarding the energy and natural resource spheres.
History.
The Armenian energy system has a 100-year history, during which time the ArmEnergo department played an important role. ArmEnergo was formed in November 1936 with the decision of the Soviet Union with the aim of managing and controlling the exploitation and development of electric stations and networks. The two hydropower plants of Yerevan, the Gyumri HPP, Dzora HPP and other technical services were part of ArmEnergo. Later on ArmEnergo became the official body eligible to control the whole energy system of Armenia.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenian economic reforms, and dawn of an energy crisis required new control mechanisms. In order to overcome this, in 1992 the Ministry of Energy and Fuel of the Republic of Armenia was created. The ministry was renamed as the Ministry of Energy of The Republic of Armenia on August 4, 1995 by a decision of the Armenian government. Once more, the ministry was renamed as Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of The Republic of Armenia by a decree of the Armenian president on 18 April 2008, which was renamed as the Ministry of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources of The Republic of Armenia on September 30, 2016. Today, the main aim of the ministry is to develop and maintain the governance policy of the Republic of Armenia in the sphere of energy infrastructures and natural resources.
Structure.
Ashot Manukyan is the current Minister, and the Deputy Ministers are Areg Galstyan, Iosif Isayan, Hayk Harutyunyan, and Vardan Gevorgyan.
The structure of the ministry is as follows:
Natural resources.
The mining sector is a very important part or Armenia’s national economy. Ore concentrates and metals are the main goods exported from Armenia at about half of all exported goods. About 670 mines are officially registered, of which more than half (around 400 mines) are exploited.
The ministry reports that there is an abundance of iron, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc, gold, silver, antimony, aluminum, and also other types of minerals and metals in the Republic of Armenia. Metal mineral mines include 7 copper-molybdenum mines, 4 copper mines, 14 gold and gold-polymetallic mines, 2 polymetallic mine, 2 iron ore mines, and 1 aluminum mine.
Also, as a result of volcanic processes, mountainous rocks were formed. Notable ones are light rocks (tufa, perlite, pumice-stone, zeolite, scoria). In addition, different types of basalts, granites, nephelite syenite, and marble make up a large percent of resources in Armenia.
Energy sources.
While being surrounded by countries that have significant hydrocarbon reserves, Armenia does not have enough fossil fuels and coal to be able to use them for producing energy. As such, Armenia is totally dependent on fuel that is imported from abroad as a fuel source for transportation, generating energy, and producing heat. Research shows that Armenia has some fossil fuel reserves which are mostly located near Gyumri and Spitak, but they are located so deep that it is not economically feasible to extract them.
In the 1990s, during the energy crisis, Armenia succeeded in constructing a large energy system. However, compared with 1988, when the energy generated capacity was more than 3.5 gigawatts, in 2010 it was just 1.2 gigawatts, which can be explained by the Armenian Government's decision to close some of the thermal power plants and one of the 2 reactors of the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant. As a result, Armenia started utilizing renewable energy sources.
Energy security.
The concept of Energy security of Armenia is aimed at ensuring the energy security of Armenia in conformity with the provisions of the National Security Strategy of Armenia. Energy security is a system of political, economic, legal, organizational, methodological, and other activities that provide affordable prices to meet the daily needs of high-quality and reliable power supply, as well as in emergency situations, and during war.
Armenia has adopted a sustainable development policy which implies the development of the energy sector as the most important area. This sector's aim is to ensure the kind of progress that will create preconditions for the harmonization and balance of environmental issues for sustainable development of the next generation, while reducing energy loss. Because of Armenia's limited hydrocarbon resources, energy security has become imperative for the presence of energy resources, including the balance of renewable energy sources (renewable energy), and the extensive use of full inclusion.
Since there are no fossil fuel resources in Armenia, the function of Ministry of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources of Armenia and natural in the framework of the energy security's concept is to increase energy efficiency in the economy, develop nuclear energy, and efficiently use renewable energy resources.
The adoption of the concept of energy security is due to:
Strategic plans.
Strategic plans of the ministry are based on a three-level diversification policy:
The three-level diversification policy's aim is to provide a sufficient level of energy security, to have electricity and gas consumption reserves in both emergency and force majeure situations. In the framework of this policy there are programs to neutralize internal and external threats, for life-time extension of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant, and for construction of new cost-effective electricity generating facilities.
Investment Projects.
The Ministry of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources of Armenia has continuous goals to contribute to the development of the energy sector in Armenia. Thus, every year, it starts to accomplish new projects in the field of renewable energy in conjunction with various international companies and investors.