Azernews.Az

BAKU – Iran has offered a wide range of electric power services to Azerbaijan. The neighboring country has submitted a cooperation plan to the Ministry of Industry and Energy, top managers of Iran’s Sadid Industrial Group said in Baku Tuesday.

Sadid Industrial Group is a well-known industrial conglomerate in the fields of designing, engineering and fabrication of machines equipment, production of welded steel pipes, general contracting of oil, gas and petrochemical projects, water and sewage utilities and manufacturing of wind power generators. The group, which comprises 13 companies, has been in business for 50 years.

"We are aware of Azerbaijan’s plans to bring the share of alternate energy in the electric power sector to 20 percent. We therefore want to expand cooperation in this area," the Iranian executives told a presentation ceremony.

Saba Niroo, which is part of Sadid Industrial Group, manufactures 660 KWt wind power generators. The company also produces 5 MWt hydro-power generators. The devices are used by small and medium enterprises located away from major electricity networks and private businesses. The Iranian company also implements projects on building hydro-power plants with the capacity of up to 1,000 MWt.

Speakers at the presentation said that Sadid specialists have gained experience at Danish Vestas Wind Systems on the production of equipment used to generate alternate energy.

Vestas is a manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines.

Three wind power plants, built by Vestas, with total capacity of 9 MWt, are operating in Yashma, northern Azerbaijan. Moreover, from 2009, a base station in Khinalig owned by the country’s cellular operator Azercell, has been supplied with electricity from a small windmill with the capacity of 6 KWt.

The president of the Eco-Energy Academy, Fagan Aliyev, called upon Sadid representatives not to waste time and launch small pilot projects in Azerbaijan after signing a relevant contract.

"I think that this won’t be hard for a holding with annual turnover worth $1.5 billion," Aliyev said.

Industry experts say Azerbaijan has vast potential to develop alternate sources of energy, though this is not considered profitable over a short term. The most affordable type of alternate energy is small water basins. 61 small sources of water are available in the country, and it is possible to build hydro-power stations there. Also, Azerbaijan surpasses a slew of countries for the number of sunny days during the year, which allows generating considerable amounts of solar energy. Moreover, the country’s wind power generating capacity allows saving a considerable bulk of fuel.