Azerbaijan plans floating PV plant

Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Energy has announced plans to build a large-scale floating PV plant on Lake Boyukshor, where it is already developing a 100 kW pilot project with the support of the Asian Development Bank.
The government has yet to reveal more details about the utility-scale PV project. However, it said that it is planning a feasibility study, along with a comprehensive analysis of the potential for floating solar development across the country. Local utility Azerenergy JSC, meanwhile, will evaluate the potential to connect the pilot project and the future floating PV array to its grid through an existing distribution line and a new one located nearby.
The ministry also submitted a draft renewables law to the cabinet to be integrated into an earlier, related decree that is already in force to support clean energy development. It did not provide any additional details on the new measures.
Azerbaijan is already running an auction scheme for large-scale renewables with the support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). UAE-based developer Masdar first tender last summer by securing 200 MW of solar, along with Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power, which won 250 MW of wind power capacity.
The EBRD estimates Azerbaijan’s solar potential at 8 GW. However, very little solar has been built in the country thus far. By the end of 2019, just 37 MW of PV capacity had been deployed, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).