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Masdar Signs Agreement to Develop Solar Power Plant in Armenia

Gnel Sanosyan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia, and Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, during signing the agreement. Asharq Al-Awsat
Gnel Sanosyan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia, and Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, during signing the agreement. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Masdar Signs Agreement to Develop Solar Power Plant in Armenia

Gnel Sanosyan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia, and Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, during signing the agreement. Asharq Al-Awsat
Gnel Sanosyan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia, and Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, during signing the agreement. Asharq Al-Awsat

Masdar, one of the world’s leading renewable energy companies and a subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, announced it has signed an agreement with Armenia to develop a 200-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) plant.

The Ayg-1 project will be Armenia’s largest utility-scale solar plant.

The Government Support Agreement (GSA) was signed by Gnel Sanosyan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia, and Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, at a ceremony in Yerevan, the nation’s capital.

Sanosyan commented: "The gradual increase of renewable sources in our country's energy system is one of the priorities set by the Government of Armenia. The Ayg-1 industrial 200 MW solar plant project is a milestone on this road. We expect the signing of this document to mark the start of a fruitful and lasting cooperation on this and for new upcoming projects."

The Ayg-1 project will be developed on a design, finance, build, own, and operate (DFBOO) basis and the project company will be 85 percent owned by Masdar, with the Armenian National Interests Fund, holding 15 percent.

In July, the Armenian Government announced that Masdar was the winning bidder for the project, having submitted a tariff of 2.9 cents per kilowatt-hour in a competitive process.

Ahlam Rashid Ahmed AlAbd AlSalami, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, said: "This agreement will strengthen the already powerful ties that exist between the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Armenia.

The UAE and Armenia are united in our commitment to take positive action against climate change, while creating greater economic opportunities and this project marks a key stage in Armenia’s clean energy journey and our hopes for this project to serve as an exemplary success to attract opportunities for Armenia from the UAE."

David Papazian, Chief Executive Officer of ANIF commented: "We are glad to welcome Masdar into Armenia's journey towards the decarbonization of the country's energy supply.

Ayg-1 is an ambitious step towards the fulfillment of this goal, and Masdar's expertise and experience in the field is key to the success of the project. Ayg-1 is set to become a highly visible investment project, benefitting the country, its citizens and investors, while committing to highest sustainability standards in the industry.”

Ramahi said the development of the project will support Armenia’s sustainable economic development.

“We look forward to working with the Armenian National Interests Fund on further opportunities in this field, and leveraging the experience we have gained as a global leader in renewable energy projects to support the diversification of Armenia’s energy mix. "

The Ayg-1 plant will be located between the Talin and Dashtadem communities of Armenia, in an area where solar radiation is high and land is unusable for agricultural purposes. The plant will span over 500 hectares and will create numerous direct and indirect jobs.

Armenia is looking to increase the share of renewables in its energy mix and reduce its dependence on imported oil & gas.

The country also has significant solar energy potential, with an average annual solar energy flow per square meter of horizontal surface of around 1,720 kWh, compared with the average European figure of 1,000 kWh.

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IMF Chief Sees Steady World Growth in 2025, Continuing Disinflation

People visit the lantern festival at the Beijing's Wenyuhe Park in Beijing on January 4, 2025, to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year on January 29, marking the beginning of the Year of the Snake. (AFP)
People visit the lantern festival at the Beijing's Wenyuhe Park in Beijing on January 4, 2025, to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year on January 29, marking the beginning of the Year of the Snake. (AFP)
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IMF Chief Sees Steady World Growth in 2025, Continuing Disinflation

People visit the lantern festival at the Beijing's Wenyuhe Park in Beijing on January 4, 2025, to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year on January 29, marking the beginning of the Year of the Snake. (AFP)
People visit the lantern festival at the Beijing's Wenyuhe Park in Beijing on January 4, 2025, to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year on January 29, marking the beginning of the Year of the Snake. (AFP)

The International Monetary Fund will forecast steady global growth and continuing disinflation when it releases an updated World Economic Outlook on Jan. 17, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told reporters on Friday.

Georgieva said the US economy was doing "quite a bit better" than expected, although there was high uncertainty around the trade policies of the administration of President-elect Donald Trump that was adding to headwinds facing the global economy and driving long-term interest rates higher.

With inflation moving closer to the US Federal Reserve's target, and data showing a stable labor market, the Fed could afford to wait for more data before undertaking further interest rate cuts, she said. Overall, interest rates were expected to stay "somewhat higher for quite some time," she said.

The IMF will release an update to its global outlook on Jan. 17, just days before Trump takes office. Georgieva's comments are the first indication this year of the IMF's evolving global outlook, but she gave no detailed projections.

In October, the IMF raised its 2024 economic growth forecasts for the US, Brazil and Britain but cut them for China, Japan and the euro zone, citing risks from potential new trade wars, armed conflicts and tight monetary policy.

At the time, it left its forecast for 2024 global growth unchanged at the 3.2% projected in July, and lowered its global forecast for 3.2% growth in 2025 by one-tenth of a percentage point, warning that global medium-term growth would fade to 3.1% in five years, well below its pre-pandemic trend.

"Not surprisingly, given the size and role of the US economy, there is keen interest globally in the policy directions of the incoming administration, in particular on tariffs, taxes, deregulation and government efficiency," Georgieva said.

"This uncertainty is particularly high around the path for trade policy going forward, adding to the headwinds facing the global economy, especially for countries and regions that are more integrated in global supply chains, medium-sized economies, (and) Asia as a region."

Georgieva said it was "very unusual" that this uncertainty was expressed in higher long-term interest rates even though short-term interest rates had gone down, a trend not seen in recent history.

The IMF saw divergent trends in different regions, with growth expected to stall somewhat in the European Union and to weaken "a little" in India, while Brazil was facing somewhat higher inflation, Georgieva said.

In China, the world's second-largest economy after the United States, the IMF was seeing deflationary pressure and ongoing challenges with domestic demand, she said.

Lower-income countries, despite reform efforts, were in a position where any new shocks would hit them "quite negatively," she said.

Georgieva said it was notable that higher interest rates needed to combat inflation had not pushed the global economy into recession, but headline inflation developments were divergent, which meant central bankers needed to carefully monitor local data.

The strong US dollar could potentially result in higher funding costs for emerging market economies and especially low-income countries, she said.

Most countries needed to cut fiscal spending after high outlays during the COVID pandemic and adopt reforms to boost growth in a durable way, she said, adding that in most cases this could be done while protecting their growth prospects.

"Countries cannot borrow their way out. They can only grow out of this problem," she said, noting that the medium-growth prospects for the world were the lowest seen in decades.