Nakhchivan: From power blockade to green energy zone Review by Caliber.Az

Since last year, as part of large-scale reforms in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR), work has begun on infrastructure upgrading. The most important goal of these transformations is the reconstruction of the autonomous region’s power sector, including plans to increase generation capacity, mainly through renewable energy sources (RES), by establishing electricity exports.

Long-term plans in this direction were discussed in the NAR during the third Azerbaijani-Türkiye Energy Forum and conference “Nakhchivan - Green Energy Zone”, held the day before, within the framework of which a number of memorandums and road maps were signed for the development of the renewable energy sector and increasing energy exports.

Very little time has passed since the events held in Nakhchivan dedicated to laying the foundation of the Igdir-Nakhchivan gas pipeline: the presidents of Azerbaijan and Türkiye, Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, took part in the ceremony dedicated to this event. And just the day before, the hospitable land of Nakhchivan welcomed new guests, participants in the Azerbaijani-Turkish energy forum and an international conference dedicated to aspects of the development of alternative energy and attracting investments in this sector.

“The Azerbaijan-Türkiye Energy Forum and Conference has become a productive platform for the implementation of the green energy development course in Nakhchivan within the framework of cooperation between our two countries and international energy companies,” said Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov during a media briefing held within the framework of the forum.

According to the minister, energy forums initiated within the framework of the joint intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation have become an effective platform for cooperation in the oil and gas sector, as well as in the field of electricity and the energy market, in the renewable energy sector and energy efficiency, and the mining industry.

We should note that the previous energy forums took place in December 2021 in Baku, and in October 2022 in Istanbul. Moreover, holding the third energy forum in Nakhchivan is not at all a random decision: the autonomy, which was under an energy blockade for many years, due to objective conditions, was forced to significantly increase the share of alternative energy. Due to the commissioning of various dam and diversion hydroelectric power stations, the autonomy provided more than half of the total electricity consumption.

Today, there are five small and medium-sized hydroelectric power stations in the NAR, as well as two solar power plants in the Babak and Julfa Districts. This trend has been further developed taking into account the recently approved detailed action plan by the Cabinet of Ministers within the framework of the “State Program for the Socio-Economic Development of the NAR for 2023-2027.”

Thus, in order to further develop the hydro-potential of the autonomy, the Cabinet of Ministers’ plan for 2024 indicates the continuation of the construction of the Ordubad hydroelectric power station with a capacity of 36 MW and the Tivi hydroelectric power station with a capacity of 15.6 MW. For 2023-2024, a major overhaul of the water supply system of the Bilyav hydroelectric power station is planned, as well as the reconstruction of the oldest hydroelectric power station in the region, the Araz hydroelectric power station, and the overhaul of the Nakhchivan modular power plant with a capacity of 87 MW.

According to the Azerbaijani Energy Ministry, in the near future the autonomy also plans to create another type of generation facilities in the renewable energy sector. Thus, as part of the program for creating a “green” energy zone in the NAR, memorandums of intent were signed in June of this year providing for the creation of a solar power plant with a capacity of 400 MW together with Nobel Energy Management, in turn, the French TotalEnergies plans to build wind and solar power plants with a combined capacity at 500 MW.

As a whole, in the coming years, in the NAR, with the involvement of foreign investors, it is planned to build wind and solar power plants with a total capacity of 1,500 MW, and about two-thirds of the “green” electricity could potentially be exported to the neighboring Turkish market.

The unique geographical location of the NAR at the junction of several states, as well as the peculiarities of the climate and landscape, which form a capacious hydro, wind and solar potential for generating “green” electricity, are still attractive to foreign investors, which was confirmed by the results of the forum held the day before in Nakhchivan. One of its results was the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the State Agency for Renewable Energy Sources under the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Az Czech Engineering company, which provides, in particular, for the construction of a solar power plant with a capacity of about 500 MW in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Another success of the energy forum was the signing of a roadmap between the Turkish energy company TEIAŞ and Azerenergy OJSC for the implementation of joint projects for 2023-2025: in particular, the document provides for the implementation of a project to form a future energy corridor between Azerbaijan and Türkiye, including infrastructure in the NAR. These decisions were also reflected in the final Azerbaijani-Turkish protocol summing up the results of the III Azerbaijani-Turkish Energy Forum.

“A road map has been signed to create infrastructure for the import and export of electricity between Azerbaijan and Türkiye: the two countries intend in the coming period to expand projects that contribute to the energy security of our region and Europe through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipelines and TANAP, as well as in areas such as the export of electricity in the renewable energy segment,” noted Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar, a participant in the conference.

According to him, serious transformations are coming in the electric power industry within the framework of bilateral and multilateral cooperation: in particular, it is planned to update the transmission infrastructure, as well as increase the capacity of “green” energy in the lands liberated from occupation and in Nakhchivan, and in all these endeavors Türkiye will continue to support Azerbaijan.

We are talking, in particular, about increasing the export of “green” electricity generated in the Garabagh region and in the NAR itself, for which it is planned to build a 255-kilovolt Shakhtakhty substation in the east of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, and another substation will be built on the border with Türkiye to convert 330 kilovolt to 400 kilovolts, from where a 230-kilometer double-circuit 400-kilovolt power line will be laid to Türkiye.

“In accordance with the state program, the electricity power system in Nakhchivan will be completely reconstructed. In particular, within the framework of the Azerbaijan-Türkiye-Europe energy corridor project, high-voltage power lines will be laid, modern substations will be built, a SCADA center will be created, and frequency regulation will be provided for the purpose of exporting electricity through the Turkish energy system. All these measures, as well as our country’s accession to the network of the European Association of Transmission System Operators of Electricity (ENTSO-E), helps to increase the potential for the production and export of electricity,” said another participant in the energy forum, Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of Azerbaijan in the NAR Fuad Najafli.

The presidential representative emphasized that today Azerbaijan is implementing an independent energy policy, and these efforts act as a strategic factor that strengthens security on a regional and European scale, giving the country the status of a secure and sustainable energy supplier.