Karabakh phenomenon: Baku boosts development of small hydropower Review by Caliber.Az

The development of renewable energy sources (RES) is one of the national priorities of the socioeconomic development of Azerbaijan. Over the next eight years, it is planned to increase the share of green energy from the current 17 per cent to 30 per cent of the total power generation of the country. An important role in the development of RES is given to the harnessing of the country's hydro potential, with a focus on the construction of small hydropower plants in the Karabakh region. In 2021, four hydroelectric power stations were restored in the territories of the country liberated from the occupation, one more was put into operation in June last year. According to Azerenerji's data published on January 5, the construction of five new HPPs with a total capacity of 27 MW in the Kalbajar region will be completed soon.

About 12 years ago, Azerbaijan launched a capital-intensive state programme for the construction of small hydropower facilities, and at the first stage, specialists of Azerenerji OJSC focused primarily on the development of the potential of mountain rivers in the Greater Caucasus, as well as the development of water resources in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR). A little under a decade ago, studies were completed at four sites - the Shirvan Irrigation Canal, the Nugadi-Garachay, Gusarchay and Katekhchay Rivers. The plan was to construct small turbine generators with an average capacity of 0.5 to 5 megawatts, which would not require dams or complex hydroelectric facilities. These were mainly small diversionary hydroelectric plants, which would not require any significant investment. Initially, just over three dozen efficient small hydropower stations were to be built, with a predicted total capacity of 239.9 MW and an annual output of over 1.2 billion kWh.

Alas, the global oil crisis of 2014-2017, the devaluation of the manat, and other negative processes in the domestic economy have made certain changes to the timing and scale of this state programme. At the same time, as a result of several expeditions by geologists and energy specialists, certain changes were subsequently made to the document, taking into account updated assessments of the hydropower potential of small rivers in the Greater Caucasus, taking into account factors of accelerated desertification and reduced water flow rates in the region.

Overall, by 2019, there were about a dozen small hydropower plants with a total capacity of 23.5 MW, including radically modernised Soviet-built hydro facilities, as well as several new plants. At that time, there were 12 small HPPs, with a prospective capacity of about 27.41 MW, at the design and pre-construction stage. A certain part of these projects has been implemented in the period 2020-2022. On December 2, 2022, an opening ceremony of Oguz-1, Oguz-2 and Oguz-3 small hydropower stations cascade with eight turbines with a total capacity of 3.6 MW on the Dashagil River in the Oguz region of Azerbaijan was held with the participation of President Ilham Aliyev. It is noted that these facilities, built by staggered method, can produce up to 15 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, which during the peak of water flows can cover half of the electricity needs of the Oguz district with a population of 44,000 people.

The new stage of development of small hydropower in the republic began in late 2020, after a brilliant victory in the 44-day Patriotic War, which resulted in the liberation of the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan from the Armenian occupation.

The hydroelectric potential of the Karabakh and East Zangazur economic regions is estimated by experts to be one of the most capacious, and this is not surprising, as the liberated territories account for a quarter of all inland water resources in Azerbaijan. The most promising in this regard are the mountainous areas located on the spurs of the Lesser Caucasus, whose rivers and other water sources provide an annual flow of about 2.56 billion cubic metres. Here the Khakari River, which originates in the Lachin region and is over 100 km long, should be mentioned. Four more large rivers flow in the Kalbajar region: Terterchay - 200 km, Bazarchay - about 180 km, Khachinchay - about 120 km, and Shekerchay. A number of lakes and 24 medium-sized and small reservoirs also have considerable hydropower potential. Speaking about the development of hydropower in the Karabakh region, it should be noted that these are mainly derivative hydropower plants and dam hydroelectric complexes (at the flows of mountain reservoirs and lakes), the construction of which does not require significant investment. In the Gubadli, Lachin, and Kalbajar mountain districts alone there is a possibility to construct/restore 45 small HPPs with a total capacity of 241.3 MW. An impressive amount of water reserves is formed by the country's second most important river, the Araz, where the construction of 100 MW Khudaferin and 40 MW Qiz Qalasi hydropower plants will be completed tentatively by 2025.

The implementation of these plans will take a long time, given the damage inflicted on the region's water and energy infrastructure by the occupiers. During the 30 years of occupation and the Second Karabakh War, Armenians completely destroyed or rendered unusable more than two-thirds of the three dozen small hydropower plants and other hydroelectric facilities in the Karabakh region.

Nevertheless, these obstacles have not hindered the government's plans to accelerate the restoration of water infrastructure in the liberated territories. Almost immediately after the cessation of hostilities, specialists from the Ministry of Energy, Azerenerji, and other relevant agencies launched studies of the water potential of mountain rivers in the Karabakh region. In particular, the year before last, several expeditions to the Gubadli, Lachin, and Kalbajar districts resulted in the development of an initial plan to assess the available hydro resources suitable for small hydropower projects. In parallel, in the same year 2021, Azerenerji specialists rehabilitated four small hydropower plants with a total generating capacity of 20 MW, including the largest - "Sugovushan-1" and "Sugovushan-2" with a total capacity of 7.8 megawatts.

These successes are only the beginning of the large-scale process of restoration of hydropower in the liberated territories: on June 26, 2022, the reconstruction of small HPP "Kalbajar-1" was completed, and the facility with a capacity of 4.4 megawatts was connected to the general power system of the country. Last year five new small HPPs were actively built in the Kalbajar region, including "Chirag-1" with a capacity of 8.33 MW, "Chirag-2" - 3.6 MW, "Gamishli" - 6.33 MW, "Soyugbulag" - 5.3 MW and "Meydan" - 3.4 MW. According to Azerenerji's data announced the day before, the agency's specialists are completing work on these five facilities with a total capacity of 27 MW, which are expected to be commissioned in the coming months.

A comparable scale of work is underway in the Zangilan district, where four small hydropower plants are currently under construction. In the longer term, the Lachin district, with its vast water potential, will become a major centre for hydropower. "During the Armenian occupation 14 small HPPs existing in the Lachin region have been destroyed, today it is planned to restore them gradually, and 14 new HPPs will be built in addition, the total number will eventually reach 28. Their total capacity will be 120 megawatts, which is several times more than the power demand in Lachin," the Head of the Public Relations Centre of Azerenerji Teymur Abdullayev said. According to him, the electricity produced at the small hydropower plants will be transmitted to the country's general energy system through 400 km of power lines under construction to connect the Lachin hub substation with other substations.

Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov recently noted that in the next year or two 11 small hydropower plants will be restored in the liberated lands of Azerbaijan, which will add about 54 megawatts of power to the country's overall energy system. In particular, it is expected that local and foreign investors together with Azerenerji specialists will be attracted to the process of construction of new hydropower facilities, and in this connection, the relevant plan of the Ministry of Economy will be successively implemented until 2026.

In general, for the long term, the Ministry of Energy and other relevant agencies are studying the rehabilitation and modernisation of old and the construction of new small HPPs - a total of 50 facilities with a total capacity of over 320 MW.

A comparable scale of work is underway in the Zangilan district, where four small hydropower plants are currently under construction. In the longer term, the Lachin district, with its vast water potential, will become a major centre for hydropower. "During the Armenian occupation 14 small HPPs existing in the Lachin region have been destroyed, today it is planned to restore them gradually, and 14 new HPPs will be built in addition, the total number will eventually reach 28. Their total capacity will be 120 megawatts, which is several times more than the power demand in Lachin," the Head of the Public Relations Centre of Azerenerji Teymur Abdullayev said. According to him, the electricity produced at the small hydropower plants will be transmitted to the country's general energy system through 400 km of power lines under construction to connect the Lachin hub substation with other substations.

Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov recently noted that in the next year or two 11 small hydropower plants will be restored in the liberated lands of Azerbaijan, which will add about 54 megawatts of power to the country's overall energy system. In particular, it is expected that local and foreign investors together with Azerenerji specialists will be attracted to the process of construction of new hydropower facilities, and in this connection, the relevant plan of the Ministry of Economy will be successively implemented until 2026.

In general, for the long term, the Ministry of Energy and other relevant agencies are studying the rehabilitation and modernisation of old and the construction of new small HPPs - a total of 50 facilities with a total capacity of over 320 MW.