Armenian solar energy enthusiasts claim that Mikhail Gorbachev has promised to underwrite production of solar systems in nuclear-power-addicted Armenia.
Diehard supporters of homemade solar energy solutions vowed on October 11 to go ahead with their plans to set up a solar panel factory in the Armenian town of Spitak, the Russian news agency Regnum reported. Gorbachev will back them if the Armenian government will not, they claimed.
Vaan Amazaspian, energy researcher and the project's key backer, said that the green energy charity Green Cross, of which the ex-Soviet leader is the founding president, pledged $8 million for the ambitious plan. Green Cross supports sustainable energy and conflict-resolution initiatives. Reports of the investment surfaced in August, but the Geneva-based NGO has not yet confirmed its alleged plans to sponsor the plant.
Amazaspian indicated that the Armenian government, for its part, had been less than encouraging about the idea of taking Spitak solar. Rather than to solar energy, the Armenian government has long given priority to upgrading, or rather replacing, the Soviet-built nuclear plant Metsamor, the country’s main energy provider.
Giorgi Lomsadze is a journalist based in Tbilisi, and author of Tamada Tales.
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