100 kW Pilot Floating Solar Project In Azerbaijan

• Azerbaijan's Energy Ministry is going ahead with the planned 100 kW floating solar PV facility on Lake Boyukshore
• It wants to explore the potential of a larger floating solar facility on the lake and will conduct a feasibility study
• Azerenergy JSC will evaluate the possibility to grid connect power generated from the said facility on completion

A floating solar PV facility with 100 kW capacity is to come up on Azerbaijan's Lake Boyukshor, with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) supporting the pilot through Knowledge Exchange and Technical Assistance of the Development of Floating Solar Panels System program.

What's more the Ministry of Energy plans to explore the potential for a larger floating solar PV capacity on Lake Boyukshore, and across the country as well for which it will undertake a feasibility study. Currently, the 100 kW system will be deployed on 800 m² area of the lake. Azerenergy JSC, the state owned electricity utility, will work on evaluating the possibility to connect the floating PV facility to its grid.

The ministry did not share completion timelines for the 100 kW facility or by how much capacity it wants to expand the project on the lake.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Energy selected Masdar out of 7 bidders for a renewable energy auction concluded in January 2020 to build a 200 MW utility scale solar power project in the country.

Azerbaijan wants to achieve a 30% renewable energy share by 2030 in its total energy mix. At the end of 2019, its cumulative installed renewable energy capacity reached 1,279 MW as per the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), comprising 37 MW solar PV. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is helping the government design a renewable energy auction mechanism.