BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 1
By Nargiz Ismayilova – Trend:
Azerbaijan generated 1.9 billion kilowatt hours of electricity from renewable energy sources in 2019, Director of the Energy Efficiency and Ecology Department of Azerbaijan’s Energy Ministry Alasgar Hasanov told Trend.
Hasanov added that the total amount of electricity generated in 2019 amounted to 26.1 billion kilowatt hours in the country.
"Azerbaijan has a high renewable energy potential. Thus, the potential of renewable energy sources that are economically viable and technically available in our country is estimated at 26,940 megawatts, including 3,000 megawatts of wind energy, 23,040 megawatts of solar energy, 380 megawatts of bioenergy, and 520 megawatts of mountain river hydropower," the department’s director said.
Hasanov noted that currently, the total production capacity of Azerbaijan is 7,556 megawatts, adding that the capacity of renewable energy power plants, including 1,276 megawatts of large hydroelectric power plants, is equal to 17 percent of the total production capacity.
"During 2019, 105.4 million kilowatt-hours of electricity were generated at wind farms, 44.2 million kilowatt-hours at solar power plants, and 195.9 million kilowatt-hours at a solid waste incinerator. Electricity generated from renewable sources amounted to 7.3 percent of total production. Small hydropower plants, with the total capacity of 25.3 megawatts, generated 53.6 million kilowatt hours" the director said.
One and a half percent in the amount of 399.1 million kilowatt-hours of total electricity production accounted for electricity generated from renewable energy sources, the director of ecology department added.
Hasanov added that the indicators show that, despite the solid wind and solar potential of Azerbaijan’s renewable energy, adding that the practical results in this area leave much to be desired.
At the same time, most of the completed work was carried out through public investments, Hasanov said
"Today, the main goal is to create a favorable investment environment for attracting business entities along with state investments in the development of this sphere. To this end, to improve the legislative framework steps are being taken as a start. The developed draft law of Azerbaijan on the use of renewable energy in the production of electricity is currently at an implementation stage," the director added.
Presently, Azerbaijan is taking steps to develop alternative energy. For this purpose, the negotiations are underway with foreign companies and investors, including the companies from China, the UAE, the US and the EU.
An alternative energy source is a renewable resource, it replaces traditional energy sources operating on oil, natural gas and coal, which, when burned, emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and this contributes to an increase in the greenhouse effect and global warming.
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