Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

Azerbaijan plans to use the windy Caspian Sea to expand its alternative energy potential.

The country has started work on the development of the area of the Caspian Sea to create wind farms there, said Jamil Melikov, the deputy head of State Agency on Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources.

"The energy system of Azerbaijan is closely linked with those of neighboring countries," he said adding that this creates an opportunity for both export and import of electricity.

"A further increase in production capacity in the electricity sector will increase the export potential of Azerbaijan. Alternative sources of energy are one of the areas where we could increase our generating capacity," he said.

The offshore area of the Caspian Sea has a great potential in terms of generating capacities, Melikov added.

"The offshore area of the Caspian Sea has a great wind potential. Here we have a large space where to build wind power plants,” he said.

Azerbaijan has already begun work on the development of the Caspian Sea water area to construct wind parks, and it successfully continues today, the deputy head said.

Today, the power of the energy system of Azerbaijan is about 7.2 megawatts.

The total potential of alternative and renewable energy sources in the country exceeds 12,000 megawatts. Most of the country's capacity in this area accounts for solar energy, and this potential is estimated to stand at 5,000 megawatts.

Wind energy accounts for 4,500 megawatts, biomass - 1,500 megawatts, geothermal energy - 800 megawatts, and the remaining 350 megawatts from small hydro power plants.

Despite the fact, that solar power is most profitable in comparison with other alternative resources in Azerbaijan now, the difference between solar and wind energy is not drastic. Moreover, the wind park project may eliminate this distinction.

Scientists believe that our planet has more than enough wind to power the whole world.

Recent U.S. studies show that existing wind turbine technology could produce hundreds of trillions of watts of power, more than 10 times what the world now consumes.

Wind power is safe and limitless, and is essentially money coming from the air. The stumbling stone here is finances, said experts as it would be too costly to construct all the necessary wind turbines and build a system which transmit energy to all consumers.

However, sooner or later the world will face an energy challenge and the existence of wind park in Azerbaijan’s sector of the Caspian Sea will wield nothing but profit.

--

Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz