Masrik Solar

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  IFC is considering financing of the Masrik-1 Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant with an installed capacity of up to 55 MW in the municipality of Mets Masrik in Eastern Armenia (the “Project”). The plant will be connected to the distribution network through a new 9.2 km 110 kV overhead transmission line (OTL) to be linked to the existing distribution lines owned by High Voltage Electric Network (HVEN).Masrik-1 Solar PV plant is part of Armenia’s national plan for the development of renewable energy. In 2018 the Government of Armenia (“GoA”), assisted by grant-funding from Strategic Climate Fund’s Scaling-up Renewable Energy Program (“SREP”) and technical advisory from the IBRD, has launched a competitive tender process for Marik-1, its first solar PV plant. In total, 6 Photovoltaic Power Plants are planned to be constructed throughout Armenia. The state implementation agency is Armenia Renewable Resources and Energy Efficiency (R2E2) fund. The contract for Masrik-1 has been awarded to Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (“FRV”) and FSL Solar S.L. (“FSL”) together the “Sponsor”, a leading global developer of renewable utility-scale projects. FRV and FSL have established a wholly owned special purpose vehicle (SPV) FRV Masrik CJSC (the “Developer” or the “Company”) incorporated in Armenia for managing the project. During the project execution, the company will enter into a turnkey EPC contract with a third party to execute the construction of the project. EPC contractor will also provide O&M services during 2 years after completion of construction. Thereafter, the SPV will enter into a long-term O&M contract with FRV services, an affiliate company of FRV. The project area is located 170 km from Yerevan and 7 km from Sevan Lake, within a large agricultural zone. Mets Masrik is the nearest community to the site (~2 km away) with 3,500 inhabitants, who are mainly engaged in agriculture. The PV plant will be entirely located in the territory of Mets Masrik and the OTL will go through the territory of Poqr Masrik and Arpunq villages. The plant will begin construction in 2019 and is expected to be operational in 2021. IFC is considering financing of the project with a senior loan of up to US$11 million to FRV Masrik CJSC.