There is no installed wind energy capacity in Azerbaijan, one of the oldest
oil producing countries in the world. In the last few years only small autonomous
wind units were used for irrigation and lighting. The number and current operating
conditions of these units is not known.
A recent project sponsored by the
Ministry of Industry and Energy will include the construction of a 1 MW turbine
in the Khizi District, about 100km west of Baku. That project is expected to be
in operation in 2006. Built during the Soviet era, Azerbaijan's power infrastructure
is generally in poor condition, with minimal public investment and maintenance
since independence.
A country wide wind-atlas is available, where one
main area with annual average wind speeds of more than 6 m/s were identified.
The “Master Plan of Wind Power Development of the USSR till 2010”, published in
1989 included a country-level wind map. The resource potential was estimated for
30m above ground. The wind map identifies areas above "6 m/s", but there is no
indication of the actual value. This value could be anywhere between 6 and 10
m/s. The wind energy resource potential of 110 x 109 kWh/y estimated in the study
is probably accurate. Thus, at an average capacity factor of 25 percent, there
is a total of 3,000MW of wind power capacity. Under these circumstances the technical
wind energy resource potential of Azerbaijan is good.
The most promising
sites are on the Apsheron Peninsula in the east along the Caspian Sea. Caspian
Sea zone and the Kura River lower reaches and Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic
also seem to have a good potential.
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