Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Azerbaijan will put a new power plant into operation in the near future, a report issued on Monday by the state-owned energy producer Azerenergy says.

"Currently, the commissioning process is being undertaken. The plant start-up will take place very soon. Following the commissioning of the power facility, the capacity of the entire power system will increase," the report says.

The capacity of the Janub power plant will be 780 MWt. It will operate on three types of fuel - gas, diesel and fuel oil. From this point of view, this power plant is unique and has no matches in the countries of Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Commissioning of the new power facility will enhance the energy security of the Absheron Peninsula, which encompasses the capital Baku and its surrounding districts, and southern regions of the country, as well as improve the efficiency of power transmission and distribution systems.

All the equipment required for construction of the second power unit Shimal with 409 MWt capacity has already been delivered to the country, the report said.

The work on building the station is being carried out under a contract signed with the Japanese company Toyo Engineering. Construction work started in 2011.

"As a result of the implementation of this project, the power supply of the city of Baku, towns and the Absheron Peninsula will considerably improve," the report says.

In January-November 2012, Azerenergy generated more than 19.2 billion kilowatt/hours of electricity compared to about 17.9 billion kilowatt/hours in the same period of the previous year.

Around 17.5 billion KWt/hrs of the total volume of generated electricity in the 11-month period fell to thermal power plants and the rest -- more than 1.7 billion KWt/hrs -- was produced by hydroelectric power stations.

In January-November the Shimal power plant generated more than 1.77 bln KWt/hrs of electric power, a statement released by Azerenergy on December 24 says.

In November the plant generated 130.1 million KWt/hrs of electricity.

Cascade of the Mingachevir Hydropower Plant with total capacity of over 400 megawatt generated over 716 million kilowatt-hours of electricity in January-October, Azerenergy said on November 28.

In October the сascade generated 22.8 million KWt/hrs of electricity.

Azerbaijan exported 473 million KWt/hrs of electricity from January to November 2012 compared to 737.74 million KWt/hrs during the same period of 2011, Azerbaijan's State Customs Committee said in a report in late December.

According to the report, electricity was exported in the total amount of 24.2 million manats, compared to about 37.1 million manats a year earlier.

At present, 13 thermal power plants and 6 hydropower plants are operated in the country's electric power system. Total capacity of the power plants owned by Azerenergy exceeds 6,000 MWt.

The balance sheet of Azerenergy also includes more than 200 substations.