President Ilham Aliyev has attended the ceremony to launch the Arpachay-1 and Arpachay-2 hydro-electric power stations as part of his visit to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
Important state programmes in the sphere of the country’s electrical power engineering, taking account of the principles of energy supply stability, efficiency and security, have been adopted in recent years. Considerable work has also been carried out in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in line with these programmes. The launch of the Arpachay-1 power station with a capacity of 20.5 MW, and of Arpachay-2 with a capacity of 1.4 MW demonstrates that such measures are being adopted consistently.
While playing an important role in supplying the autonomous republic with electricity, these projects being implemented in Nakhchivan are contributing to the energy security of the country as a whole. The launch of such power stations also plays an exceptional role in guaranteeing Nakhchivan’s economic development. Moreover, such projects promote the successful and soonest implementation of the work intended to resolve social issues. President Ilham Aliyev pays constant attention to the implementation of such significant and strategically important projects. Thanks to the attention and care of the head of state the Nakhchivan modular power plant with a total capacity of 87 MW was launched back in 2006. This power plant is particularly important in terms of Nakhchivan’s energy security. After its turbines were switched over to running on gas, the capacity of the Nakhchivan Gas Turbine Power Plant grew to 60 MW. Subsequently, thanks to the measures adopted in this direction, the Bilyav Hydro-Power Plant with a capacity of 4.5 MW began operation in Ordubad, on the Heydar Aliyev Reservoir, and important work was carried out to bring the Arpachay Hydro-Power Plant in Sharur district on line.
President Ilham Aliyev first of all inspected the work of the Arpachay-2 Hydro-Power Plant. The head of state was informed that the plant’s output capacity is 1.4 MW and the total holding capacity of its reservoir is 3 million cubic meters.
The plant mainly fulfils distribution functions. Its operation allows the uninterrupted supply of electricity to be provided to the population and makes it possible to expand the territory of irrigated crop areas.
The head of state launched the Arpachay-2 Hydro-Power Plant.
Chairman of the Supreme Majlis of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Vasif Talibov informed President Ilham Aliyev that during reconstruction, particular attention was paid to the installation of modern technology and equipment. This work was carried out in line with the Order “On financing the construction of the Arpachay-2 Hydro-Power Plant in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic” which was signed by President Ilham Aliyev on 14 March 2014. Under the Order, 4 million manats from the Reserve Fund of the President provided for in the State Budget of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2014 were allocated to the Cabinet of Ministers of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic with a view to completing the construction of the Arpachay-2 Hydro-Power Plant.
President Ilham Aliyev then attended the Arpachay-1 Hydro-Power Plant launch ceremony.
The head of state was informed that this hydro-power plant, with a capacity of 20.5 MW, consists of a water intake unit, the plant building, a tunnel and a transformer substation. The water intake unit has a throughput capacity of 37 cubic meters of water per second. A high-pressure pipeline has been laid to feed the water along the tunnel to the turbines, and an air inlet has been built. The holding capacity of the reservoir situated here is 150 million cubic meters. The water taken from the reservoir will irrigate 17,370 ha of crop areas.
Modern offices and a control center have been set up in the plant’s building. The plant’s control system and monitoring and security system are located here. This means that the plant’s work regime can be monitored constantly. Two 8 MW turbines and one 4.5 MW turbine are installed in the plant building. The entire generating process is automated in this power engineering facility. A transformer substation has been built on the territory to transmit the electricity generated to the power grid and 11 kilometres of 110 kV power transmission lines have been laid.
President Ilham Aliyev launched the Arpachay-1 Hydro-Power Plant.
The President of Azerbaijan was informed that with the launch of this plant, which is of great importance in terms of economic cost-effectiveness and boosting energy potential, a large part of the autonomous republic’s electricity needs would be met by the hydro-power plant. Along with the power plant in Sharur district, the building of the new 36 MW power plant, which is currently under construction in Ordubad, will make a weighty contribution to this process. There are currently seven power stations operating in the autonomous republic where there was just one power plant during the years of Soviet power. Consequently, despite the fact that the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic is living under a blockade, its electricity requirements are fully met by its internal resources. Moreover, the autonomous republic’s possibilities for exporting electricity are expanding with every year.
The head of state then met members of the public of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said:
- Today is a momentous day in Nakhchivan. We are marking the inauguration of Arpachay-1 and Arpachay-2 hydro-power plants. I congratulate you on this splendid occasion from the bottom of my heart. This event shows once again that Nakhchivan is developing confidently and successfully today. Major infrastructure projects are being implemented in Nakhchivan. The republic is going through a period of very dynamic development.
This morning I attended the inauguration of various facilities in Nakhchivan. All these inauguration ceremonies demonstrate the strength of our country, and the work being carried out in Nakhchivan is at the highest level. I sincerely congratulate all the inhabitants of Nakhchivan, the leadership of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic on this occasion.
The city of Nakhchivan is becoming more beautiful and modern amenities are being provided, social programmes are being carried out and social infrastructure projects are being implemented successfully. Naturally, issues of Nakhchivan’s energy supply are in the forefront. We all remember well that there were very big problems with Nakhchivan’s electricity supply in its time. Under the guidance of the great leader, issues of Nakhchivan’s energy security began to be resolved, and we are successfully continuing that policy today. Five power plants have been built in Nakhchivan in recent years. It can be said that the issues of Nakhchivan’s energy security are completely resolved. In recent years we celebrated the opening of the Vaykhir and Bilyav hydro-power plants and now Nakhchivan is supplied with energy from hydro-power stations. This also presents Nakhchivan as a very unique republic worldwide since it is very rare in the world for domestic needs to be met from renewable energy sources. The realities of Nakhchivan today are such that the issue of Nakhchivan’s energy supply has been fully resolved thanks to the operation of hydro-power plants. Nakhchivan’s energy potential is currently around 220 MW which also presents the opportunity to grow Nakhchivan’s export potential.
Such are the realities of Azerbaijan today. Azerbaijan, which once sought to buy electricity from other countries, today already exports electricity from Nakhchivan to Turkey. This export is growing gradually and will continue to grow since additional measures are planned for the future to increase Nakhchivan’s energy potential. This is necessary because the population is growing. The population of Nakhchivan already exceeds 430,000. Nakhchivan’s industrial output is growing, new enterprises are opening up and social issues are being resolved. Thus, we must create new energy generating capacities in order to ensure Nakhchivan’s dynamic development in the future.
It can be said that the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic is fully supplied with gas today, it is almost 100 per cent supplied with gas. Energy supply is organized at a high level. That is, issues of the autonomous republic’s energy security have been fully resolved. Generally, energy security issues are in the forefront in the world today. We see that energy security issues are closely linked to countries’ general security issues. That is, countries which do not feel confident in terms of energy security encounter major problems. It leads to dependence.
Thanks to the policy of the great leader, Azerbaijan has built its own energy policy in such a way that the country has fully guaranteed its own energy security today, is playing its role in guaranteeing the energy security of other countries, and this role will grow gradually.
Naturally, the creation and development of Nakhchivan’s energy potential was always an issue on the agenda. This issue has already been resolved and, I can say, that this is an historic event. The construction of the Arpachay Hydro-Power Plant also demonstrates today the strength of our state. As this was a very difficult project technically. This project was implemented by Azerbaijani specialists and workers. A tunnel was dug and facilities were built in these mountains. During the implementation of the project, the leadership of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic put forward a new initiative and the Arpachay-2 plant was built as well. This is today’s modern approach; this is the confident development of Nakhchivan.
As I have noted, social and economic issues are being resolved here successfully, Nakhchivan’s military strength is up to the mark. Today I inspected new hardware models delivered to Nakhchivan.
Everything is being done for the republic’s development. It can be said that unemployment has been eradicated. New jobs are being created. That is, dynamic development is being secured.
Electricity is the paramount condition for the confident development of any country, republic, including the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. You, power engineering specialists, know this well. Energy is the most important factor underlying any development, and today Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan, its integral part, have fully resolved this issue. This is a great event, an historic achievement. I sincerely congratulate you on this occasion. I wish you good health and new successes.
Thank you
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In conclusion, a photograph was taken to commemorate the event.
Then President Ilham Aliyev viewed the reservoir with a holding capacity of 150 million cubic meters of water.
