BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct.20
By Fidan Babayeva - Trend:
Azerbaijan has achieved a 39.7-percent boost in electricity production over the past 10 years due to opening new production facilities, Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov said, Trend reports citing the ministry.
Shahbazov said that in connection with the development of the country's economy, population growth, and industrialization process, the electricity consumption grew by 58.3 percent.
"The electricity production in 2019 amounted to 26.1 billion kW/hours, and consumption - 21.6 billion kW/hours. The COVID-19 pandemic consequences, accompanied by a decrease in the global energy demand, partially reduced our country's electricity performance this year,” he noted. “So, for the past 9 months, the electricity production decreased by 0.8 percent compared to the same period of last year and made up 19.4 billion kW/hours.”
According to the minister, demand for electricity and the dynamics of production volumes are expected to spike in the coming years.
“It is predicted that by 2025 the demand for electricity in our country will grow to 25.5 billion kW/hours, and electricity production, including exports, will reach 30 billion kW/hours. Part of these production capacities will be achieved through the Shimal-2 power plant with a capacity of 409 MW commissioned in 2019, and the Gobu power plant with a capacity of 385 MW, which was laid out this year and planned to be commissioned in 2022," the minister stressed.
He added that the full meeting of electricity demand requires construction of new thermal plants.
----
Follow the author on Twitter: @Fidan_Babaeva