Azerbaijan Starts Measuring Offshore Wind Resource

August 6, 2024, by Adrijana Buljan

Azerbaijan will soon start wind measurement campaigns to assess offshore wind resources at two locations, according to a recent update from the Azerbaijan Renewable Energy Agency (AREA), part of the country’s Ministry of Energy.

Photo source: Azerbaijan Renewable Energy Agency

In a press release on 2 August, AREA said that work on starting measurements was about to be completed, with two LiDARs deployed at designated areas. The wind measurement campaigns are being carried out in accordance with the “2022-2026 Socio-Economic Development Strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan”, which contains an action point on researching the offshore wind energy potential and implementing preparatory measures to utilise that potential.

The two LiDARs, which will measure wind speed and direction at required points within up to 10 kilometres using laser beams, have been provided by the Finnish company Vaisala. The LiDARs will measure the wind speed at heights of 75 metres, 150 metres and 225 metres by creating a virtual observation post at different points, AREA said.

In March this year, the Azerbaijan Renewable Energy Agency and WindEurope signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance the deployment of onshore and offshore wind energy in Azerbaijan and the wider Caspian Sea area.

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According to the World Bank and ESMAP, Azerbaijan’s technical offshore wind potential is 157 GW, of which 35 GW is suitable for fixed-bottom projects and 122 GW for floating wind.

In 2022, in cooperation with the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Azerbaijan released its Offshore Wind Roadmap which states the country has the potential to install 7 GW of offshore wind power by 2040 with the right long-term vision, infrastructure development, investment and policies.

There are also already proposals to build offshore wind projects in Azerbaijan.

In January 2023, the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and the UAE’s Masdar entered into a partnership to develop offshore wind and green hydrogen projects totalling 2 GW in capacity.

In February last year, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Energy signed an implementation agreement for an offshore wind project with an installed capacity of up to 1.5 GW with Saudi Arabian ACWA Power.