EU HAS OFFICIALLY HANDED OVER MOBILE DIESEL GENERATORS MANUFACTURED BY ES GROUP TO ARMENIAN NPP

A ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the official handover of 6 mobile diesel generators manufactured by ES Group for the Armenian NPP under the European Union’s assistance was held on May 15 at the ANPP.

The European Union was represented by a delegation headed by Ms. Marjeta Jager, Deputy Director-General for International Partnerships at the European Commission (INTPA). The Republic of Armenia was represented at the ceremony by representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, the Committee on Nuclear Safety Regulation (ANRA), the Armatom Institute and the management of the Armenian NPP.
Eduard Martirosyan, Director General of the Armenian NPP, thanked the EU for the long-term, stable and tangible support provided to the nuclear power plant: since 1996, the European Union has assisted in the implementation of about 60 measures aimed at improving nuclear safety.

He noted that the latest milestone in the long-standing cooperation between the EU and Armenia in the field of nuclear safety was the delivery of six mobile diesel generators (MDGs), which is one of the most important support measures provided by the EU as a result of performed stress tests. This alternative energy supply project was implemented by the Czech-Ukrainian company ES Group together with Dalgakiran Compressor Ukraine LLC in 2021-2024, already at the time of full-scale invasion. Despite the hostilities and problems with logistics and energy supply, the project was completed successfully and on time.

In the fall of 2023, the equipment was successfully tested at the site in Kyiv with the participation of representatives of the Armenian Nuclear Regulatory Authority, Armenian NPP and AOSA representative, who took part in the tests via videoconference.

And in 2024, ES Group supplied 6 mobile diesel generators ranging from 110 kVA (88 kW) with 400 V output voltage to the largest 2750 kVA (2.2 MW) with 6000 V output voltage.

In the welcoming speech, Ms. Jager reminded that on April 5, 2024, the President of the European Commission, Ms. Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen, announced a new EU support package of 270 million euros to assist Armenia over the next 4 years, in particular in the nuclear safety sector.

Ms. Jager noted that continuous work in the field of nuclear safety remains a priority of EU policy and she highly praised the effective cooperation with Armenia in the field of nuclear safety, the constant commitment and efforts of the Armenian side aimed at improving the nuclear safety of the plant, in particular after the stress tests in 2015.

The latest EU-funded projects based on the results of the stress tests include: assistance at the ANPP site by the Austrian company Enconet Consulting; a project to increase the containment leak-tightness implemented by the Slovak company Vúez; and an alternative energy supply project (supply of MDGs) implemented by the Czech company ES Group.

As reported, ES Group, Skoda JS a.s., and ZAT a.s. participated in a meeting of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech Republic to the Republic of Armenia Petr Pirunčík with the management of the Armenian NPP in April. During the visit, the results of cooperation between the Armenian NPP and Czech companies and its expansion were discussed.