Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a consultative meeting on the development of the biofuel market in Armenia. Opening the discussion, the Prime Minister said: “We have been working in this direction for a while now and have studied the global experience, or rather the experience of our region. We have fielded fact-finding groups to study the experience of at least one country where biofuel is widely used in households, specifically the method of using it for heating purposes. While discussing this issue I was surprised to learn that the use of biofuel is a widespread practice in Europe, even in the G7 countries. Let us see what we are talking about.

The fact is that nowadays heating boilers are running on biofuel instead of using natural gas or liquid fuels. In this case, by saying biofuel, we mean briquettes, pellets. Of course, there are other methods of using pellets and briquettes, and today we will try to understand to what extent we can consider the expediency of its applicability in Armenia. I mean its competitive advantage over other methods. At least, it will be quite interesting news for us, if it turns out that gas boilers or systems used today for heating purposes can similarly be used in this way, and that it will be at least as accessible to our fellow citizens as the versions available today.”

Environment Minister Erik Grigoryan spoke about the preparative work done to study the prospects for developing Armenia’s biofuel market. He presented a comparative analysis of biofuel technologies for the production of briquettes and pellets, the main advantages, the cost / fertility ratio, compatibility / substitution with other types of fuels, the raw materials necessary for production. According to the Minister, the development of the biofuel market can be an important change in the development of civilized heating systems through modern technologies that will help curb illegal logging and wildfires, provide for the population’s heating needs, create new jobs and achieve energy security. He assured that a full feasibility study and a relevant cost estimate will be submitted in the months to come.

The meeting discussed the applicability of briquettes and pellets in Armenia, as well as the possibility of engineering a fully functional producer-consumer chain, cost-effective business models, and mechanisms for State participation.

The Head of Government told the heads of the agencies concerned to develop a set of recommendations for each of the questions under discussion and present them with a full assessment of the project.