Armenia is receiving $8.5m (£5.3m) to explore for geothermal resources in the country. The World Bank’s ‘Geothermal Exploratory Drilling Project’ aims to find geothermal resources for power generation at the Karkar field.

It plans to build a geothermal plant if the availability of resources are confirmed and helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The facility would have a capacity of 28MW and would cost up to $100 million (£63m).

Arthur Kochnakyan, World Bank Task Team Leader of the Project said: “If adequate geothermal resources are confirmed, then future construction of a geothermal power plant would help the government to meet the forecasted electricity demand and improve the energy security and independence of the country.

“Low-cost electricity from a potential geothermal plant can help keep the electricity affordable for the poor.”

Truong Duy