Neosun Energy: Azerbaijan - one of most promising regions for solar energy

On March 15, President Ilham Aliyev attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the 230 MW Garadagh solar power plant to be built in Azerbaijan by Masdar of the UAE. In an exclusive interview with the Russian bureau of Report, Ilya Likhov, CEO of Neosun Energy, a manufacturer of new-generation solar panels and lithium-ion batteries, spoke about the prospects for the development of solar energy in Azerbaijan.

- What are the benefits of using solar energy?

- Today, solar power plants are the cheapest way to generate energy. For such a sunny republic as Azerbaijan, a solar power plant will significantly increase the share of renewable energy sources in the balance sheet and reduce the cost of generation. Over the past 10-15 years, Baku has consistently and actively developed the renewable energy market. During this time, hundreds of megawatts of hydroelectric power plants were built. Now, thanks to solar power plants, the share of renewable energy will increase significantly.

Solar energy is developing dynamically in the world and is growing every year. Over the past year, more than 120 gigawatts of solar power plants were commissioned, and investors around the world are increasingly redistributing shares of their investments in favor of solar and wind. In fact, most of the new capacity built around the world comes from solar and wind. They include such a company as Masdar, which is now actively developing solar and wind energy in Central Asia.

- This week, the ceremony of laying the foundation of the Garadagh solar power plant, which will be built in Azerbaijan by a company from the UAE, took place. Do you consider Azerbaijan a promising market for investments in this area?

- Azerbaijan is one of the most promising regions in the world in terms of solar energy development. This is due to the large number of sunny days per year and high levels of insolation. In this vein, Azerbaijan, along with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, has one of the lowest total tariffs received from the sun (levelized cost of energy, LCOE), which predetermined the decision of investors.

- What is the significance of the opening of this power plant for the development of this sector in the future?

- The Garadagh solar power plant will be the largest solar power plant in the CIS and Central Asia. Given the level of solar insolation, the cost of generating electricity in the region will significantly decrease. Historically, Azerbaijan has been associated with oil production. The construction of the largest solar power plant in the region is a strong signal of a change in policy in favor of renewable energy sources and a transition to modern generation technologies.

I think that in the near future more private companies involved in the construction of solar power plants will appear on the market. For four years, solar energy has been one of the cheapest types of generated energy. But energy is a very conservative industry, and such a powerful plant, coupled with large investments, will attract attention and give a signal to the market that it works. This, in turn, will affect all areas of the economy and production where energy is needed, that is, in principle, everything.