The Hrazdan Thermal Power Plant is located in the basin of the rivers Hrazdan and Marmarik, not very far from where their junction is, at an altitude ranging from 1715 to 1730 meters above sea level. It was planned in the early 1960s and was intended for operations in a severe climate zone, specifically characterized with parameters such as its high altitude, daytime high temperatures, on the one hand, as low as -21°C, and, on the other hand, a warm season lasting for up to half a year.
The construction of the Hrazdan Thermal Power Plant began in 1963. The first two co- generators/combustion turbines, of the PT-50-130/7 type, were used from 1966 to 1967. In November and December of 1969 two other T-100-130 co-generators were operated. From the very beginning the power plant was planned to provide power not only to Armenia, but the whole South Caucasus region.
In 1969 the output capacity of the Hrazdan Thermal Power Plant reached 300 MW and the capacity of heat distribution was 560 kcal/hour (650 MW). From 1960 through 1974 the second block of the electric station was built, which comprised four condensing power-generating units with a total capacity of 810 MW. The vicinity of both the thermal power station and the condensing plant, as well as the rest of the technical units, was the reason for combining the two stations into a state regional power plant (SRPP). The Hrazdan SRPP, with a capacity of 1,110 MW, became the largest power plant in Armenia.
Since the moment of activating the first power generating unit, through January 1, 2005, the Hrazdan Thermal Power Plant has generated 143 billion kWh of electricity and 12.3 million kcal/hour of heat energy. The most productive period was the 1980s when power generation reached 6.85 billion kWh annually, with the number of hours of utilizing the established capacity reaching 7,300 (83%). The largest volume of heat delivery was registered in 1990 – more than 950,000 kcal.