BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 10
By Anastasia Savchenko – Trend:
The volume of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere in Azerbaijan is planned to be reduced by 35 percent till 2030, Azerbaijani Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov told Trend.
“Having signed the Paris Climate Agreement in April 2016, Azerbaijan assumed a commitment to keep an increase in the global temperature at two degrees Celsius,” the minister said.
"The country's greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere reached 73.3 million tons in carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent in 1990," Shahbazov added.
“Taking into account the fact that one of the sectors that generate carbon emissions is the electric power industry, it is important to achieve high results at power plants using natural gas and the latest technologies, increase efficiency of facilities, reduce fuel consumption and domestic power plant consumption and achieve energy efficiency,” the minister said.
"The specific consumption of equivalent fuel for generating electricity at thermal power plant of Azerenergy OJSC amounted to 279.8 grams / kilowatt per hour in 2018 compared to 2009, decreasing by 50.2 grams / kilowatt per hour and amounted to over 1 million tons of conventional fuel," Shahbazov said.
The minister stressed that the total losses in the electric power industry decreased by 10.5 percent and reached 41.6 percent due to the renewal of the 0.4-kilovolt network, the optimization of 6-10-kilovolt power plants, the installation of modern meters in 2018 compared to 2009.
"Another progress is associated with the limitation of associated gas,” Shahbazov said. “If flaring reached 912.9 million cubic meters in 2012, then in 2018 this figure dropped up to 218 million cubic meters."
“A policy of increasing the share of renewable energy sources in generation of electricity will also contribute to a decrease in carbon emissions,” the minister said.
“The share of renewable energy sources, including water resources, in the total power generation capacity in our country is 17 percent,” Shahbazov said. “We plan to bring this figure up to 30 percent by 2030, which, along with increasing energy security, will greatly reduce carbon emissions.”
The official signing ceremony of the Paris Climate Agreement of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was held at the UN headquarters in New York in April 2016.
The agreement was signed by representatives of 171 countries. The Azerbaijani minister of ecology and natural resources signed the Paris Climate Agreement upon the president’s instructions and on behalf of the Azerbaijani government.
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