President Aliyev attends opening of Surakhani Solar Power Plant (UPDATE)
By Aynur Jafarova
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev inaugurated Surakhani Solar Power Plant of the AzAlternativEnerji LLC under the State Agency for Alternative and Renewable Energy on July 16.
The 8,000 solar panels installed in the plant are capable of generating almost 12,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day. It is planned to install another 4,000 panels in future. This will open up opportunities for a more efficient operation of the plant.
The construction of the plant began in March 2014. Since May it has been operating in test mode. Over this period, certain installations of the plant have been tested alongside its operation in various modes, including emergency.
President Aliyev visited the control center of the plant. The president was informed about Surakhani Solar Power Plant's operations.
The center controls the operations of solar panels installed on the Gobustan Hybrid Power Plant, Surakhani Solar Power Plant, Bilasuvar Refugee Settlement, Masalli Sports Center, as well as five schools and two outpatient clinics in Baku.
The design capacity of the plant is 2,800 kilowatts. Its annual electricity production will be 4 million kilowatt-hours. It will save 1.5 million cubic meters of gas per year when reaching its design capacity.
Later, President Aliyev was informed about the mobile laboratory of State Agency for Alternative and Renewable Energy. He also reviewed a map reflecting the development of alternative and renewable energy in Azerbaijan until 2020.
Energy-rich Azerbaijan enjoys a good potential for solar energy production. Kur-Araz lowland area, Absheron peninsula, Gobustan district and Nakhchivan AR are the sunniest areas of Azerbaijan with 250-300 sunny days a year.
The share of solar energy in total volume of alternative energy of Azerbaijan is estimated to reach 40 percent by 2020. The share of alternative energy sources is planned to increase to 20 percent of the total volume of energy consumption in Azerbaijan by 2020. This requires 7 billion manats ($8.9 billion) of investment.
Azerbaijan plans to commission solar power plants in Sumgayit, Samukh, Sangachal and Pirallahi in near future.
Azerbaijan also plans to build new power plants with a total installed capacity of 300 megawatts in various regions of the country. The country has set a goal to set up hybrid power plants in every city and region of Azerbaijan by 2020.
Currently, research is underway to determine the number of plants to be built in each particular region. Building such plants close to residential settlements will prevent the losses of electricity and help deliver it to customers at a cheaper price.
In order to ensure the development of alternative and renewable energy, the power plants with an installed capacity of 2,500 megawatts will generate 11 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year by 2020. This means savings of about 3 billion cubic meters of gas a year.
Studies show that investment made in alternative and renewable energy is expected to recoup within seven to eight years.
The use of alternative and renewable energy also means modernity, innovation and environmentally friendly technologies.