Azerbaijan assesses three offshore wind projects, SOCAR Green says

Azerbaijan is conducting preliminary assessments of three offshore wind energy projects, each with a planned capacity of 200 megawatts, SOCAR Green's Director of Technology and Innovation Elchin Targuluev has said.

Speaking during a webinar on infrastructure, electromobility and renewable energy storage solutions in Azerbaijan, Targuluev said initial land plots for the projects had already been agreed, Caliber.Az reports, citing local media.

Wind resource assessment is under way at one site, while studies at the other two are due to begin shortly, he said.

Targuluev described the three projects as pilot initiatives that would precede much larger offshore wind developments.

He said preliminary forecasts suggested Azerbaijan's offshore wind generation capacity could reach about 6-7 gigawatts by 2040.

A report by the International Finance Corporation estimates Azerbaijan's technical offshore wind potential at more than 150 gigawatts, while the commercially viable potential is initially estimated at about 38 gigawatts.

By Aghakazim Guliyev