BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 23
By Fidan Babayeva - Trend:
The use of the potential of hydro, solar and wind energy, that is, environmentally friendly energy, is one of the main goals in the energy supply of the liberated Azerbaijani territories in 2021, Acting Director of the State Agency on Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources of Azerbaijan Tabriz Ammayev told Trend.
"The work is underway to determine the future steps for the components of the Green Energy Zone concept and to attract private investments to implement this concept," Ammayev added.
"The preliminary observations show that the territories liberated from the occupation have a high potential of hydro, solar and wind energy," acting director added. "There are areas with high solar energy potential in Gubadli, Zangilan, Jabrayil and Fuzuli districts. The total potential is estimated at more than 4,000 megawatt."
"The wind energy resources of Kalbajar and Lachin districts were considered," acting director said.
"The potential of wind energy in the mountainous districts of the Nagorno-Karabakh region is estimated at 500 megawatts," Ammayev said. "Taking into account that about 25 percent of local water resources in Azerbaijan are formed in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, the prospects of using such main rivers as Tartar, Bazarchay, Akera and their tributaries for electricity production were considered."
"The Ministry of Energy and the State Agency on Renewable Energy under the ministry explore the international experience in this sphere and discuss the prospects for cooperation with international organizations in this sphere following the instruction of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, voiced at the meeting on January 6, 2020, dedicated to the results of 2020, to make the Nagorno-Karabakh region a model for the whole world as a green energy zone," acting director said.
"As the president stressed, there are sufficient opportunities to create a zone of "green" energy in these territories, we are witnessing the high potential of these types of energy today," Ammayev said.
"Moreover, there are big territories with an average annual wind speed of 7-8 meters per second in the mountainous part of the Nagorno-Karabakh region at an altitude of 100 meters," acting director said.
According to the Global Wind Atlas.info platform, the average annual wind speed in Kalbajar and Lachin districts bordering Armenia reaches 10 meters per second.
The use of renewable energy sources was determined by the president as one of the priority spheres for the development of the energy sector.
Thus, the special attention is paid to the implementation of pilot projects on the construction of a wind farm with a capacity of 240 megawatts and a solar power plant with a capacity of 200 megawatts in accordance with agreements signed with ACWA Power company and UAE’s Masdar company on January 9, 2020.
Seven working groups, consisting of representatives of the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Emergency Situations, Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, Ministry of Justice, as well as the Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture, the State Service on Property Affairs, the State Tax Service, Central Bank of Azerbaijan, Azerenergy OJSC and Azerishig OJSC operate to fulfill the relevant order of the Azerbaijani president.
----
Follow the author on Twitter: @Fidan_Babaeva