BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 17
By Sadraddin Aghjayev - Trend:
After the commissioning of the Khizi-Absheron wind farm, Azerbaijan will be able to increase the export of gas by 220 million cubic meters, Deputy Director of the International Institute for Energy Policy and Diplomacy under Moscow State University of International Relations (MGIMO), analyst of the MGIMO Center for Sustainable Development, expert, Ph.D. in Economics Igbal Guliyev told Trend.
Guliyev added that the groundbreaking ceremony for this wind farm with an installed capacity of 240 MW is a qualitatively new stage in the construction of the biggest renewable energy facilities, which can greatly reduce the carbon footprint and greatly change the structure of Azerbaijan's energy balance.
“This large-scale project will be implemented by the Saudi Arabian ACWA Power company on a build-own-operate basis at two main production sites, namely, in Sitalchay village of Khizi district, in which 25 turbines with a capacity of 6.5 MW each will be installed, and in Perekeshkul village of Absheron district (12 turbines of 6.5 MW each),” the analyst added.
Guliyev stressed that the total investments in the project will reach about $300 million while the process of building the wind farm will take about 18 months.
“The Khizi-Absheron wind farm will produce one billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year in accordance with the design documentation,” the analyst said.
“Putting the wind farm into operation in 2023 will save 220 million cubic meters of natural gas,” the analyst said. “It will be possible to receive additional income from increasing export of gas, as well as prevent 400,000 tons of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.”
Guliyev stressed that Azerbaijan plans to increase the share of renewable energy sources in the energy balance to 30 percent by creating about 700 MW of additional "green" capacity by 2030 through the auctions for foreign companies.
“This intention includes two important goals for Azerbaijan’s economic development, namely, ensuring the inflow of foreign investments into the national economy and increasing the share of "clean" energy,” the analyst said. “This will allow Azerbaijan to become the leader in the region in terms of the growth of energy capacity from alternative energy sources.”
Guliyev said that thus, the implementation of mega-projects based on renewable energy sources meets the key goals of Azerbaijan’s sustainable development and contributes to reducing dependence on carbon energy resources, increasing the share of the non-oil sector of the economy in GDP, modernizing and diversifying the national fuel and energy complex, as well as improving the environmental situation and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
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