Preservation of Azerbaijan's water resources is a priority activity of the State Water Resources Agency, Chairman of the Agency Zaur Mikayilov said during a public meeting themed 'Green energy and clean environment: business development prospects'.
According to Mikayilov, the country's agricultural sector is rapidly developing, which requires more water resources.
"In this regard, we consider it important to switch to green technologies. So, in 2022 alone, 1.6 GW of electricity was generated and 20,000 tons of diesel fuel were used in Azerbaijan," he noted. "It's necessary to use renewable energy sources to the maximum. So, the liberated territories have the potential for both wind and solar renewable energy."
He official also noted that so far 20 small hydropower plants have already been built and commissioned in the liberated territories.
"A hydropower plant with a capacity of eight MW has been built on the Hakari river, as well as Sugovushan-1 and Sugovushan-2 power plants have been commissioned in Tartar," he added.
Following the liberation of Azerbaijani territories from Armenian occupation as a result of the 2020 Second Karabakh War, great work on the restoration of power infrastructure damaged during the period of occupation has been launched.
Currently, the construction of four HPPs with a capacity of 42 MW, including small HPPs ("Sharifli", "Sarigishlag", "Zangilan" and "Jahangirbayli") is underway in Azerbaijan's Zangilan district.
Recently, the “Gamishli” and "Meydan" small HPPs have been inaugurated in the Kalbajar district.