Japan, Azerbaijan hold successful co-op under power plant project

By AzerNews

Commissioning Shimal-2 power plant will strengthen energy supply of the Absheron peninsula, east Azerbaijan.

"After launching the Shimal-2 power plant the two power plants will provide energy supply of Baku by 35-40 percent," Head of Azerenergy consumer control department Elchin Mammadov said in an event organized by the Japanese embassy in Baku on March 7 to familiarize media representatives with the Shimal combined cycle power project in settlement Shuvalan of Khazar District.

Mammadov said that the Shimal combined cycle power project is very important project for Eastern Absheron in terms of energy supply and it improves the quality of the energy supply.

"Shimal combined cycle power project, realized in Azerbaijan under the Japanese government's Official Development Assistance (ODA) program, is an example of the Azerbaijan-Japan cooperation," Mammadov said.

He said the construction of Shimal-1 power station was launched 10 years ago. As a result of negotiations held in 1998 under the leadership of great leader Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijan and the Japanese government reached an agreement on construction of new Japan made installations and allocation of loan for power plant construction. The station was put into operation in 2002. This power plant provides 25 percent of energy supply of Baku.

Under the loan assistance contract, the Japanese Government has allocated $911 million soft loan to the first two phases of the Shimal combined cycle power project (1998-1999) and second part of the Shimal combined cycle power project (2005).

Mammadov noted that the construction of the Shimal-2 power plant has already launched and it is planned to finish the construction by the end of this year. He said the power plant will be put into operation in the next year.

At the same time, the transmission of the power lines is also projected and it is in the final stage, Mammadov said.

The substations with the capacity of 220, 110 and 32 kilovolts are being built within Shimal-2 power plant construction. Four lines of 220 kV will be held from here to connect the two stations to the general energy system and part of these lines are ready. These lines will be connected to the Hovsan, Zabrat, Boyuk Shor substations and will also create a link between the Sumgayit power plant and Shimal power plant, he added.

According to Mammadov, construction of Shimal-2 will solve the energy problems in Absheron Peninsula.

This project is implemented by the Japanese Company Toyo Engineering Corporation and Azerbaijani company Azenco.

Japanese Ambassador to Azerbaijan Shusuke Watanabe said that the construction of this station is a symbol of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

"The main goal pursued by the Government of Japan is to officially support the program in countries that are in the process of development and based on good principles of statehood, to support the principle of self-support and to collaborate over development of human resources, the legal system, economic and social infrastructure as basis for the development of these countries.

He noted that friendship and cooperation between Japan and Azerbaijan have notably grown within 20 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Since its functioning, the Japanese Embassy in Azerbaijan has been actively involved in support of mutual understanding between the two countries and strengthens bilateral relations. So, the Government of Japan through its official support programs in Azerbaijan is implementing a number of important projects.

Besides, there are some advantages of Shimal-2 power plant, which differ it from the Shimal-1. If the capacity of the Shimal-1 is 400 megawatt, the capacity of the Shimal-2 will be 409 megawatt.

Also, the importance of the Shimal-2 power plant is having the water intake system for cooling process. So far, the cooling water for the Shimal-1 power plant have been taken from the seashore and with the water the sand, seaweed and trash have also entered into the system. But with the installation of the new system, these problems will be removed, because it will be constructed 450 meters away from the shore and with depth of minus eight. Thus, as an installation constructed in the Caspian Sea for the first time, it will ensure the entry of the clean water into the power plant and there won't be any problems in the cooling system.

The water intake system is implemented by the TEPSCO Japanese Company. Previously, this system has been successfully developed in Indonesia, Vietnam, India, China and the other countries. According to the Japanese specialists, this system can operate for 30-40 years.

The Japanese specialist also said that the water used for the power plant is returned back to sea with a temperature higher by one or two degrees and it almost has no any negative impacts from the environmental point of view.

This system is also intended for Shimal-1 power plant and it will solve the problems there.

Media representatives and the Japanese Ambassador also visited School 2 in the village Jeyranbatan built under the Japanese Government's small projects and assistance programs "Grassroots and Human Security."

This school was built in 2006 and $92.420 million has been allocated for the construction of this project. The school has 511 students. Some of them are the children of the refugees and IDPs. This project has prevented the accidents with students on the way to school.

The Official Development Assistance (ODA) program is realized by the Government of Japan on three categories: bilateral loans, bilateral grants and transactions by international financial institutions.