A partnership agreement for the construction of the first industrial demonstrator for green hydrogen production in Armenia has been signed.

Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) said in a news release that this industrial demonstrator, developed in partnership with French research institutes and laboratories, will originally supply clean electricity to the SMART Center created by COAF in Debet, Armenia, and eventually to the Debet community.

A solar farm will produce the electrical energy that will power a French technology electrolyser for the production of green hydrogen. The hydrogen produced will be stored to be used either directly by supplying a hydrogen station with charging terminals, or to be retransformed into electricity using a hydrogen fuel cell, which is also based on French technology, and thus ensure that the end users are served in an uninterrupted way and free of any CO2 emission.

This innovative process of hybrid renewable energy production solves the problem of intermittency related to solar or wind sources. Carried out in the form of an industrial demonstrator, it will enable further development of this technology and conceive its large-scale expansion in Armenia.

This partnership between French and Armenian stakeholders will allow Armenia to be among the leaders in achieving low carbon goals and developing a thriving green economy.

Armen Sédéfian, president of the Solges-Energy group, particularly stated that Armenia represents an extraordinary opportunity to develop the best of French technology in the field of renewable energies and to create a real industrial sector in collaboration with our partner companies and equipment manufacturers in France.

“We wish to actively contribute to the process undertaken by Armenia to develop its green economy and make it the 1st Smart & Green Nation in the region thanks to French industrial excellence. As a result, Armenia can very soon become a great technological showcase for the neighboring markets of the Eurasian economic area, as well as those of Iran and the Gulf countries,” he said.

Korioun Khatchadourian, COAF Managing Director, for his part, said this renewable energy production project empowers to add the last brick of innovation and sustainable development in the foundation of our SMART Center in Debet.

“It is also yet another way for us to contribute to the image of an Armenia resolutely committed to the global cause of reducing greenhouse gases,” he said.