Azernews.Az

By Akbar Mammadov

President Ilham Aliyev has said that Azerbaijan fully meets its electricity demand and has strong export potential in this field due to the government care and state investments.

The president also said that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to the renewable energy in the country and there are large-scale plans in this filed.

Aliyev made the remarks while laying the foundation of a new Power Plant Station in Qobu settlement near Baku on August 21.

Aliyev described the Gobu power substation as another important step in the field of power engineering in the country, saying that it will be commissioned in early 2022.

“The generation capacity of the station is 385 megawatts. The station will find a worthy place among the large power stations built in our country. Of course, the creation of new generating capacities is a manifestation of our overall development because the modernization of our energy system is consistent with the overall development of our country, and all this work is carried out in a planned manner,” Aliyev said.

Aliyev pointed out that the world's leading companies will participate in the construction of the station, adding that there will be very strong international control.

Aliyev stressed that the station will play a significant role in the organization and future development of the country’s energy system.

“As you know, the construction of power plants has a special place among infrastructure projects, and I can say that we have started to deal with this issue in the first place. It is no coincidence that the first State Program on socio-economic development of the regions, adopted in 2004, pays special attention to the construction of power plants,” the president noted.

He also highlighted that over 30 power plants have been built in the country since 2004.

He reminded the construction of the 525-megawatt Sumgayit Power Plant, the "South" station with the capacity of about 800 megawatts, "North-2" station with a capacity of about 400 megawatts, "Sangachal" Power Plant with a generation capacity of 300 megawatts.

Five modular stations have been built in different parts of the country, each with a generation capacity of about 90 megawatts.

Furthermore, the president underlined that Azerbaijan has strong export potential in the electric power field.

“We have developed strong export potential. Despite the growth of our domestic demand, our export potential is growing every year. Since 2004, our economy, including our industrial potential, has increased over threefold so far. As a result of the application of modern technologies, generational forces are emerging in Azerbaijan, and losses are decreasing,” he added.

The president highlighted that over the past two years, up to 1,300 megawatts of lost generation capacity has been restored in existing stations. He also noted that the biggest work was done at the Mingachevir Thermal Power Plant where 600 megawatts of generating capacity has been restored.

“Today, this plant, operating at full capacity at 2,400 megawatts, is the main source of energy for us. The life of this station has been extended and it will serve us for decades to come,” Aliyev said.

Additionally, the president pointed out that as a result of the renewal of the "South" Power Plant, 200 megawatts of generating capacity have been restored there.

“Over 200 megawatts of generating capacity was restored at modular stations. 230 megawatts of generating capacity was restored at Mingachevir and Shamkir hydropower plants. Work has also been carried out at other stations, and in a total of two years we have restored 1,300 megawatts of lost capacity. I think this is a great historical event,” the president said.

Aliyev emphasized that building new 1,300-megawatt stations could cost billions of dollars, however, Azerenergy regulated them with a very limited budget.

“Thus, the work done in this area in recent years is commendable. The Gobu Power Plant, which we are laying the foundation stone for today, will also strengthen our overall energy potential, expand our export opportunities and, at the same time, meet domestic demand. Because the demand is growing, the population of Azerbaijan is growing.”

Speaking about Azerbaijan’s economy, the president said that the country’s economy has decreased by only 2.8 percent in the first in seven months of 2020. He reminded that oil production slightly deceased in 2020 as a result of OPEC+ agreement, adding that “however, there is growth in industry, including the non-oil industry, and this growth constitutes 13 percent in the first seven months of this year. These are the realities of today's Azerbaijan.”

Aliyev said that Azerbaijan must continue to use our energy potential to the maximum.

“It is gratifying that the world's biggest energy companies are interested in producing renewable energy in Azerbaijan today, and this interest is already being realized. At the beginning of the year, relevant documents were signed with two large international companies on the construction of solar and wind power plants with a capacity of 440 megawatts… The creation of 440 megawatts of renewable energy in Azerbaijan, with the state of Azerbaijan not spending a single manat of its own, is a manifestation of confidence in us, a manifestation of confidence in the future, stable future and development of Azerbaijan,” he went on saying.

Furthermore, the president reiterated his country’s determination to continue to work on the production of traditional energy sources.

“We are inviting foreign and local investors to build thermal power plants, we want to attract them. We also want to involve them in the construction of hydropower and other renewable energy plants. If there is such an interest, I think that this issue can be resolved in a short period of time,” the president said.

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