Rainfall Mitigates Energy Crisis, Says Artsakh Ministry Spokesperson

In June of this year, the unprecedented volume of rainfall in Artsakh has somewhat alleviated the energy crisis, but it cannot restore the previous reserves of the Sarsang reservoir, which remains the main resource for electricity generation. This was stated by Tatevik Khachatryan, the press secretary of the Artsakh Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, during an interview with Armenpress.

"The restoration of the reservoir’s capacity will only be possible if Azerbaijan stops hindering the restoration of electricity supply from the Republic of Armenia to Artsakh. In that case, we would not have to use the reservoir's resources on a large scale, and the previous capacity could be restored within about a year," said Khachatryan, adding that the Artsakh government is attempting to accumulate certain water reserves in the reservoir through various measures, including reducing electricity consumption volumes, in order to cope more effectively with the deepening energy crisis in the coming months, especially during winter.

According to our interlocutor, the government had planned to implement an alternative energy use program if the transportation of limited humanitarian cargo were possible through the Russian peacekeeping forces. However, due to the recent Azerbaijani provocation, Artsakh has found itself in complete blockade, making it impossible to import the necessary equipment.

In the event that the situation continues, the energy crisis could turn out to be more severe than expected.