Azerbaijan, Baku, April 12 / Trend E. Ismayilov /
It will take at least two years to prepare the alternative and renewable energy sources cadastre in Azerbaijan, head of the State Agency on Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources Akim Badalov said at a press conference today.
The press conference is devoted to the second phase of the program on a 13 million euro EU grant to support the reforms program in the energy sector.
"It is necessary to have sufficient data on the potential of alternative energy in all regions of the country to prepare the register," Badalov said.
The state agency has installed 21 observation stations to explore the possibilities of alternative and renewable energy sources. The stations allow measuring wind speed, the possibility of thermal sources and small hydropower plants. He said that the development of animal husbandry in Azerbaijan creates conditions for the development of biomass.
"It is necessary to install about 200 stations to fully examine and obtain data on the alternative energy in the country," he said. "Some of them will be mobile and will be used in remote areas of the country."
The preparation of the cadastre will create the conditions for transparency while implementing the projects in the field of alternative energy sources, as well as ensure control over the implementation of these projects by the state agency.
"This will be possible because the stations will fulfill control functions in the future," Badalov said.
He said Azerbaijan has just approached the development of alternative energy. The advantage of the country is to avoid the mistakes made during the development of this area by other countries.
"At present, we create a new sphere and therefore we must not exclude mistakes in the beginning," Badalov said.
He added that there are plans to implement the project "1,000 houses, 1,000 electric power stations". The main idea is that people will install solar panels at homes. They will be able to ensure their needs of electric power and sell some electricity to the electricity supply network on the basis of the tariffs. The fees will be determined on the basis of the research.
The process of connecting to the network and the relations between small producers and electricity supply network will be regulated by the legal framework.
"All this will be reflected in the state program, which is underway," Badalov said.
The Azerbaijani government prepares a state program on the use of alternative and renewable energy sources in Azerbaijan for 2012-2020.
The work within this strategy will allow the country to reach a 20-percent-milestone in the renewable energy share in total energy consumption by 2020.