Azerenerji has restored about 50% of Azerbaijan's generating capacity since 2018 accident
BAKU. Jan 13 (Interfax) - Azerbaijan's state-owned Azerenerji has restored 485 megawatts' worth of power-generating capacity since September 2018, the company said in a statement.
"Thanks to the implementation of a rehabilitation program, we have been able to restore 485 megawatts' worth of generating capacity that the country's energy system lost. The program, which lasts until 2021, involves 12 Azerbaijani power plants. The program envisages restoring about 1,000 MW of generating capacity in total," the statement reads.
Azerenerji has restored 40 WM of capacity at the Shaki power plant, repairing 10 assemblies and replacing parts. "In fall 2018, two of 10 assemblies at the power plant did not work due to the destruction of casings. The other eight worked intermittently. Thus, the plant was operating at 40 MW, compared with an installed capacity of 87 MW. Our work made it possible to bring the plant's capacity to over 80 MW," the statement reads.
Azerenerji intends to invest 560 million manat ($329 million) in the modernization of the country's energy system by 2021. The 2018-20 modernization program was adopted in 2018 after a serious accident on July 2-3, 2018. Thirty-nine cities and regions lost power. On the evening of July 3, Baku and most of the country lost power again.
A key factor in the accident was technical and other issues that prevented the company from reacting properly, according to a state commission that investigated the incident.
The Energy Ministry and Azerenerji signed a contact with Germany's VPC to carry out a technical audit of the Azerbaijan Thermal Power Plant and develop a general plan for rehabilitating it and optimizing the transmission of electricity to the Azerenerji system.