Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.20
By Emil Ismayilov - Trend:
Electricity export on the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey route may start before the end of 2015, the energy minister Natig Aliyev told reporters Oct.20.
He said that plans are to resolve all technical and commercial issues related to the transportation and transit of electricity within the framework of this corridor in 2015, and that will create conditions to start exporting.
"Negotiations on transit, on determination of the transit fee, electricity fee and other issues are expected to be held," Aliyev said. "These issues can be resolved in 2015."
Also, the volume of export will be determined, which will also depend on the existing facilities, he said.
Georgia will serve as a transit country, and it will also export electricity, the ministry of energy of the country previously said. Azerbaijan will be primarily able to repay its debt to Turkey for the electricity which is delivered to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, and then enter the European market.
Such a scheme of repayment of energy debt to Turkey will make it possible to fully load generating facilities of Azerbaijan, which will further improve the efficiency of electricity production in the country.
The current energy system of Azerbaijan amounts to 7105 megawatts, which exceeds the country's needs in electricity by over 1,500 megawatts.
Azerbaijan is able to produce annually about 22 billion kilowatt / hours of electricity, which creates an annual export potential of 2.3 billion kilowatt / hours.