BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 15. The mobilization work has already begun for the 240 MW Khizi-Absheron wind farm project implemented jointly with the Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power, Javid Abdullayev, Director of the State Agency for Renewable Energy Sources under the Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan, told Trend in an exclusive interview.
He noted that representatives of the company engaged in construction work recently inspected the construction site.
"I hope that we will witness the rapid progress of work on this project," he said.
On January 9, 2020, the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan and ACWA Power of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed an Implementation Agreement. According to the Agreement, pilot project will be implemented for the construction of wind power plant with a capacity of 240 MW by ACWA Power. In this regard, on December 30, 2020, Investment agreement, Power Purchase agreement and Transmission Connection agreement were signed on 240 MW wind power plant between the Ministry of Energy, Azerenergy OJSC and ACWA Power of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The project with a total installed capacity of 240 MW will be implemented in Sitalchay village of Khizi region and Pirakashkul village of Absheron region.
According to the preliminary estimates, the wind power station will annually generate 1 billion kWh of electricity, will give an opportunity to save 220 million cubic meters of natural gas per year, to prevent 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions and to supply 300,000 homes with electricity. The total cost of the project is approximately $ 300 million and is expected to be fully funded by foreign investment. On January 13, 2022, with the participation of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Minister of Energy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman Al Saud, groundbreaking ceremony of the 240 MW Khizi-Absheron Wind Power Plant was held.
Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn