BAKU

Japanese company Tokyo Electric Power Services Co., Ltd. (TEPSCO) will prepare a concept and a master plan for creating a “green energy” zone in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, liberated by Azerbaijan during the 44-day war with Armenia in autumn 2020, Azerbaijan’s Energy Ministry said.

Azerbaijan is yet to tap into its significant potential for renewable energy and energy efficiency. The government has, however, drafted several laws to that end which are pending approval. It hopes that making greater effort in renewable energy and energy efficiency will help the country save natural gas and oil for exports and reduce its dependence on the oil and gas sector.

IRENA – the International Renewable Energy Agency – said in a recent report that despite its reliance on oil and gas, “the country has excellent wind and solar resources, along with significant prospects for biomass, geothermal and hydropower development.”

Baku is spending millions of dollars for infrastructure projects in Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions that have been returned to the central government control during a war last autumn.

TEPSCO and Azerbaijan’s Energy Ministry signed an agreement on cooperation on May 6. Earlier in May, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev signed an order on measures to create a “green energy” zone in the liberated territories.

The agreement calls for the implementation of a project aimed at efficient use of the potential of renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, hydro-, geothermal and bioenergy, energy-efficient technologies, modern energy as well as modern energy management approaches in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The project will study international experience in this area, depending on the economic development and settlement of the liberated territories, energy demand and energy supply scenarios, the integration of the renewable energy network, energy efficiency, transport, urban planning, waste management, smart grids and green finance.

TEPSCO, which was established in 1960, has for over half a century contracted with government ministries and agencies as well as private organisations on projects in Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, providing one-stop engineering services from master plans and feasibility studies to project management for generation, transmission, and distribution. It has expanded into renewable energy resources, energy conservation, and consulting on operations and maintenance.

The company has offered green solutions for smart city projects in Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil and Thailand.

It has also participated in a number of projects in Azerbaijan,  among them are consulting services on the project for the construction of power plants “Shimal-1” and “Shimal-2,” as well as the preparation of field analysis of Azerbaijan’s energy sector.

The technical potential of offshore wind energy in Azerbaijan is estimated at 157 gigawatts, according to a preliminary analysis provided by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme. The analysis does not include the Nagorno-Karabakh region.