Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

Germany will support Azerbaijan in the development of wind power, said Florian Schroeder, the executive board member of the German-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce, at a conference on Wind and Network Integration in Baku on October 27.

The event was held with the participation of leading German companies in the field of alternative energy and the Azerbaijan State Agency on Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources.

The conference will be an important step in the development of dialogue between the two countries in this field, Schroeder said.

“Our experts have identified a large export potential of Azerbaijan in this field. In addition, we already have some joint projects. The Azerbaijani and German governments have big plans for the development of alternative energy.

“By 2020, Azerbaijan plans to increase the share of alternative energy in total production to 20 percent, a third of which will come from the wind energy. We are ready to provide any support in this regard to the Government of Azerbaijan,” said Schroeder.

Earlier, the head of the State Agency on Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources, Akim Badalov, said Azerbaijan would build a solar power plant in Germany.

The capacity of the plant will be 10 megawatts, he said, adding that the contract for the construction of the plant will be signed in the near future.

Badalov said also negotiations are underway on the construction of a solar power plant in Turkey.

The Agency has recently built a new wind plant, Yeni Yashma, with a capacity to generate 50 MW. The plant is expected to be put into service by the end of this year.

Deputy Chairman of the Agency Jamil Melikov said a lot of work needs to be done on the preparation of the power plant to be commissioned.

“To date, 17 of the 20 turbines of the power plant are ready for launch, they were tested, partially worked, and are now put on hold in order to produce the simultaneous launch of the entire station. We expect parts for another three turbines from Germany, which will be delivered in the near future,” said Melikov.

The country also plans to use the windy Caspian Sea to expand its alternative energy potential. Wind farms are expected to be built offshore in an area marked by great winds.

Currently, the total capacity of power generation in Azerbaijan is 7.2 thousand megawatts, which allows the country to produce annually about 24 billion kilowatt-hours and export 2.1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity.

It is expected that in 2015, the volume of production of electricity from alternative and renewable energy sources in Azerbaijan will reach 2.6 billion kilowatt/hours per year. This means fuel savings of roughly one million tons, as the most energy losses at fixed power, and work is currently underway in the country to reduce them.

The State Agency on Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources was established in 2013. The volume of investments made in the development of the alternative energy sphere in Azerbaijan reached 63.6 million manat in 2014. The greatest portion of these investments, 34.9 million manat, was allocated to the development of the solar energy sphere, while 28.7 million manat went toward wind power.

In total, around 800 million manats have been invested in this sphere in Azerbaijan since 2000. Up to 100 alternative energy objects are planned for construction in Azerbaijan in the next five years.

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

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