Azerbaijan intends floating PV plant

• The nation's energy ministry has exposed strategies to construct a utility-scale floating solar plant on Lake Boyukshor, where it is already creating a 100 kW pilot floating PV variety.

Azerbaijan's Ministry of Energy has introduced plans to develop a large-scale floating PV plant on Lake Boyukshor, where it is currently establishing a 100 kW pilot project with the support of the Asian Development Bank.

The federal government has yet to disclose more details concerning the utility-scale PV task. However, it said that it is preparing an usefulness research study, along with a detailed analysis of the possibility for floating solar growth throughout the country. Regional utility Azerenergy JSC, on the other hand, will certainly evaluate the prospective to attach the pilot task and also the future floating PV variety to its grid via a present distribution line and a new one located close by.

The ministry additionally sent a draft renewables law to the cupboard to be incorporated into an earlier, related mandate that is already active to support clean energy development. It did not provide any kind of added information on the brand-new steps.

Azerbaijan is already running a public auction plan for large-scale renewables with the assistance of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). UAE-based developer Masdar initial tender last summer by protecting 200 MW of solar, along with Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power, which won 250 MW of wind power capacity.

The EBRD estimates Azerbaijan's solar capacity at 8 GW. Nevertheless, really little solar has been built in the country thus far. By the end of 2019, just 37 MW of PV capability had been deployed, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).