Azerbaijan seeks partnership with Iran on geothermal project
Bailovo, Baku, Azerbaijan (source: flickr/ David Davidson, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
14 May 2015
The geothermal project is expected to have 250MW. The initial phase will have 50MW.
It seems like Teheran and Baku will work together with the assistance of IRENA to develop two renewables energy projects, according to local newspaper AzerNews.
This same source quotes Jamil Melikov, deputy head of the Azerbaijani State Agency on alternative and renewable energy sources saying that the state agency is currently negotiating on this issue with the Iranian Energy Ministry.
“We’ve already signed a memorandum between our state agency and Iran’s Energy Ministry on starting the implementation of two projects. One is related to the creation of wind farms near Khaf city in the Khorasan province and the second will be the construction of geothermal power plants in East Azerbaijan province not far from Tabriz, where there are quite significant geothermal resources,” Melikov told Trend.
He said the Iranian side is currently implementing a pilot project in the field of alternative energy.
“The financing of this pilot project will be carried out by the International Agency for Renewable Energies, which Azerbaijan is a member of. We hope that the positive experience and results obtained in the framework of this pilot project will give us the opportunity to begin a cost effective implementation of the project related to the construction of a geothermal power plant. Its essence lies in the fact that we, using the hot spring water, can transform it into electricity and thus reduce the cost of electric power,” Melikov said.
He said the planned capacity of the geothermal power plant is up to 250 megawatts, adding that in the first phase, they plan to start the project at 50 megawatts, then to increase the capacity of power station.
He believes it is more profitable to sell electricity on the domestic market of Iran, because this country has enough high tariffs on it.
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Source: AzerNews
