A new roadmap released today by the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) shows that Azerbaijan has the potential to install 7GW of offshore wind power by 2040, with the right long-term vision, infrastructure development, investment, and policies - which could play an important role in achieving the country’s parallel priorities of decarbonization and sustainable growth, Trend reports with reference to IFC.
Reportedly, the first-of-its-kind Offshore Wind Roadmap for Azerbaijan provides strategic vision under two scenarios – a low growth and high growth scenario - to support decision-making about regulations, frameworks, and infrastructure related to this new industry at a time when interest in developing offshore wind is increasing globally.
Analysis of the low growth scenario envisions a moderate expansion of offshore wind resulting in 1.5GW of fixed foundation offshore wind by 2040, making up 7 percent of the country’s electricity supply under a decarbonization scenario. The high growth scenario outlines a more ambitious expansion with 7.2GW of offshore wind by 2040, making up 37 percent of its electricity supply.
The high growth scenario will result in more energy, more jobs, faster pay-back and more carbon dioxide avoided compared to the low growth scenario due to the increased cost reduction delivered by a larger market. However, significant and early action needs to be taken for this to happen. Both scenarios would only be tapping into a fraction of the vast technical potential for offshore wind resource in the country.
The roadmap sets out the recommended actions to be taken in order to realize the offshore wind potential under both scenarios. These recommendations include setting targets for 2030 and 2036, developing and competitively bidding a 200MW demonstration project followed by larger projects, further exploring potential offshore wind development zones, modernizing infrastructure, adopting international best practices to attract financing, educating all government agencies and the future workforce to build the knowledge and capacity needed to deliver a pipeline of offshore wind projects.
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