Azerbaijan, Baku, March 15 / Trend E. Ismayilov /
The site for building a new wind energy regeneration plant in Azerbaijan was chosen on the basis of wind atlas, prepared by the German development bank KfW, deputy head of the State Agency for Alternative and Renewable Energy under the Industry and Energy Ministry Jamil Melikov told Trend today.
He said that the new power plant is planned to be built in Absheron district of Azerbaijan, 40 kilometer from Baku to Gobustan settlement.
KfW has prepared an atlas to begin constructing the power plant and get guarantees of the project effectiveness, which was then submitted to the State Agency. The atlas has shown good potential for wind energy development. Absheron district was chosen as the site for the new station construction.
The atlas covered Azerbaijan's onshore and offshore parts.
According to the initial reports, the new power plant's capacity will hit 80 -100 MW. But it will be possible to say about the exact capacity and other details of the project after the feasibility study is prepared.
"The tender procedure is being conducted," he said. "A contractor will be chosen soon to prepare the feasibility study."
Earlier, German development bank KfW has expressed readiness to allocate 130 million euro to develop renewable energy in Azerbaijan. Initially, the bank planned to allocate 40 million euro for this purpose. The loan will be given to the State Agency directly, although it was previously reported about the possibility of financing the project through local banks.
KfW Baku office told Trend earlier that the project aims at increasing the share of renewable energy sources in total electricity production in the country and to ensure continued and effective use of resources.
At present, the share of alternative energy sources in total consumption volume in Azerbaijan is slightly more than 2.3 percent. By 2020 this figure will increase to 9.7 percent.
The Azerbaijani President signed an order in late December last year to prepare the state strategy on the use of alternative and renewable energy sources in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2012-2020 within six months.