On February 1, 2021, USAID/Armenia Acting Mission Director Mr. David Hoffman, Deputy Minister of the Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Mr. Hakob Vardanyan and Chairman of the Public Services Regulatory Commission Mr. Garegin Baghramyan participated in the presentation of the WEM Management System and launched the Pilot -Transition to the new WEM Model in Armenia. About 80 energy sector professionals including the key counterparts for the MLET Program at the Public Services Regulatory Commission, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures, the Market Operator, the System Operator as well as working group members and electricity trade responsible persons assigned from the generators, transmitter, distributor, universal supplier, wholesale electricity trader participated in the event.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Market Liberalization and Electricity Trade (MLET) Program supports Armenia’s efforts to make the country’s energy market more attractive to private investment, to expand electricity trade with Georgia to promote greater energy security for Armenia, to diversify Armenia’s energy supply, and to make the country’s energy markets more efficient and transparent. The main counterparts of the USAID MLET Program are the Republic of Armenia Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures, the Republic of Armenia Public Services Regulatory Commission, and other key energy sector institutions.

To assist in the MLET Program’s efforts for liberalizing the wholesale electricity market and improving electricity trade in Armenia, Synergy International Systems (Synergy) has been selected in June 2019 to support Tetra Tech ES, Inc. in implementing USAID MLET Program’s task component on design and development of automated information technology platform – Armenian Energy Exchange (AEX), which will enable the Armenia Wholesale Electricity Market Operator and System Operator, as well as Market Participants to interact and organize the wholesale trading of electricity.

The MMS platform will be a key tool to implement operation of the Armenia Wholesale Electricity Market through enabling electronic communications and trade in different segments of the market, performance of energy transactions and settlements, configuring data visualizations, and empowering users to explore market results. The MMS platform will also allow for full transaction and information exchange automation, ensure transparency through controlled access to energy market information, and ensure security and maintenance of the market records and reports.

The project is in the initial development phase, after completing the initial system design process in October.

Disclaimer: This article is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the publisher and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.