On September 16, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the inauguration of the 100 MW Gobustan Solar Power Plant in Baku’s Garadagh district. Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Azerbaijan Lu Mei, and Chief Executive Officer of Universal International Holdings Limited Yi Nan welcomed the head of state. President Ilham Aliyev was briefed on the Gobustan Solar Power Plant, Universal Energy, and its operations in Azerbaijan.
The Shanghai-based Chinese company provides green energy and energy storage system solutions. In addition to China, Universal Energy implements renewable energy projects in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. By a decision adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers in 2023, a 300.77-hectare plot of land in the Pirsaat settlement of Baku’s Garadagh district was designated as a renewable energy site for the construction of a solar power plant.
The site was put up for auction for the construction of the solar power plant, with China’s Universal International Holdings Limited emerging as the winner in 2024. The Gobustan Solar Power Plant project is the first project implemented through an auction process in Azerbaijan, as well as the first project carried out by Universal Energy in the country. In addition to solar panels, field inverters and transformers have been installed at the plant, and all cabling works have been completed.
Following the commissioning of the Gobustan Solar Power Plant, annual electricity generation is projected to reach approximately 200 million kilowatt-hours. This will save 45 million cubic meters of natural gas annually while reducing carbon emissions by 97,000 tons. Under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, the widespread use of renewable energy sources is one of the priority directions of the country’s energy policy.
In Azerbaijan, the technical potential of green energy sources stands at 135 GW onshore and 157 GW offshore. The economic potential is estimated at 27 GW, including 3 GW of wind energy, 23 GW of solar energy, 380 MW of bioenergy, and 520 MW of mountain river potential. With the commissioning of the Gobustan Solar Power Plant, the total capacity of renewable energy sources in the country will reach 2,170 MW, with the number of power plants totaling 85.
Of these, 65 are hydroelectric power plants with a total capacity of 1,443.5 MW, six are wind power plants with a total capacity of 306.5 MW, nine are solar power plants with a total capacity of 278.2 MW, three are hybrid power plants with a total capacity of 7.3 MW, and one is a biomass power plant with a capacity of 37 MW. Renewable energy sources will account for approximately 20.8 percent of the country’s total power generation capacity. The implementation of renewable energy projects with a total capacity of approximately 1.5 GW is planned by the end of 2027.
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