Une nouvelle centrale électrique en Azerbaïdjan pour stimuler la transition énergétique du pays
Dans cet épisode, nous découvrons la centrale électrique 8 Novembre en Azerbaïdjan, la plus grande installation gazière du Caucase du Sud. Avec sa technologie prête pour l’hydrogène, il s’agit d’une étape majeure dans la transition énergétique du pays.
00:00l'Azerbaïdjan carbon dioxide footprint actual greenhouse gas footprint is
00:04around 60 million tonnes so 2 million tonnes out of that will be avoided
00:10because of this plant
00:19hello and a very warm welcome to another episode of energy frontiers this month
00:25we take a closer look at Azerbaijan's newest and most advanced power station
00:29the 8th november power plant located in mingashavir often called the nation's
00:34energy capital in just a moment we'll hear from deputy minister of energy dr.
00:38elnor soltonov about what this means for regional gas diplomacy and domestic
00:43supply but first here's a quick overview of what's in play the 8th november
00:49power plant is a high efficiency gas facility the largest of its kind in the
00:54south caucuses powered by combined cycle technology
00:58it's designed to generate up to 1880 megawatts of electricity whilst cutting
01:05emissions by around 50% compared to older infrastructure its hydrogen ready
01:11turbines aligned with Azerbaijan's long-term low carbon ambitions and by
01:17saving more than a billion cubic meters of gas each year it has the potential to
01:22reshape the country's energy balance both at home and abroad
01:26so how will the plant contribute to Azerbaijan's energy transition
01:30and how will its impact be measured in real terms
01:35i'm delighted to say that i'm joined in studio now to answer all of these questions and more by
01:39Azerbaijan's deputy minister of energy dr elnar soltonov a very warm welcome
01:44it's great to see you again hi rebecca thank you for being here today my pleasure let
01:49me start by asking you about the eighth of november power plant it's now operational but how will you
01:55measure its impact beyond capacity and what does it actually mean to Azerbaijan in terms of the
02:00energy transition and your goals there thank you for the question capacity matters when we talk about
02:07the contribution of this new plan to Azerbaijani grid system economy and overall climate goals why
02:13because this plant used to be the biggest but least efficient power plant in Azerbaijan but now it's
02:19it's the biggest but one of the most efficient power plants in Azerbaijan currently as we talk it's producing
02:25around 30 percent of all electricity consumed in Azerbaijan right now
02:30that means that we are going to be
02:34feeling and calculating very clearly how much natural gas we are going to be saving by relying on this plant
02:40at this capacity at this level second the earlier plant was boiler plant the difference is combined
02:48cycle plants are very quick to respond to oscillations in the grid system we all remember what happened
02:55in spain couple of months ago this is especially valid and important when we talk about renewable
03:01energy the plant is expected to free up more than a billion cubic meters of gas each year talk to me
03:06about how that surplus will be deployed is it purely for exports or do you have other plans in the best of all possible
03:12worlds this saving could go up to 1.2 bcm of gas actually and i believe that if you look at the amount of carbon dioxide that are reduced that are avoided
03:24it kind of will amount up to two million tons we can definitely talk about save natural gas that are measured in millions of cubic meters of
03:33gas gas that we have this is very significant amount it will be different used differently it could be used domestically or it could be
03:43it could become part of our export mix that we are currently
03:47realizing recently opac at their ninth seminar talked about there being no end of demand for
03:53oil anytime soon certainly not ahead of 2050 and they point to an investment of more than
03:5818 trillion dollars being needed before that time um does that mean that you in azerbaijan and with
04:05these plants are continuing to invest in hydrocarbons but also in the renewable side of things i mean
04:11azerbaijan currently has the presidency of cup 29 as well and what matters and as cup 29 presidency we have
04:19been pursuing this goal the scientific community and the best available science tells us that we need to reach
04:25um net zero by 2050 that's our best shot really um it does not mean that by 2050 all hydrocarbons will be
04:36out of the sea what we have been observing in azerbaijan is that uh it is increasingly becoming a natural gas
04:43country and natural gas is important in two regards natural gas is the least um polluting of all fossil fuels out
04:51there and second natural gas and we are back to november 8 uh power plant is really important for those
05:00responsive power plants because those resilient power plants are usually not called fired power
05:06plants so natural gas fired power plants are really good in terms of integrating more and more renewable
05:12energy so in that sense i really commend also as part of the cup 2019 that azerbaijan's push for more
05:19natural gas because especially european continent as you know there are a lot of countries that use
05:25coal and if our gas is replacing that coal in fact in that sense it's actually contributing to
05:32decarbonization and in case our gas uh production will increase considerably that will happen only if
05:38european commission with whom we signed a deal in 2022 is going to be supporting this process speaking of
05:45november 8th power plant your turbines are hydrogen ready but what is the road map what is the timeline
05:52for integration they will be able to use up to 40 percent hydrogen and we already worked the hydrogen
06:00hydrogen strategy with ebrd but to be honest with you hydrogen is very expensive especially green
06:07hydrogen clean hydrogen is very expensive what we think and the way we started to think about hydrogen is
06:13really uh related to immense offshore wind resources that we have in the caspian sea because if we want
06:20to develop those wind resources at scale we are going to need some storage capacity and i think in
06:28several months time we will start this implementation plan with ebrd that way we will have a clearer picture
06:34on how exactly we are going to be implementing this in terms of the regulations the policies and indeed
06:41the infrastructure which you have referenced what else needs to be put in place to make sure that
06:46hydrogen is firmly integrated into the energy mix i think the first question is uh real technology
06:53we need to have these mature technologies um because electrolyzers that especially we use uh for green
07:02hydrogen we don't have them at scale but first and foremost although i'm saying this last it's about
07:08economics it's about the cost of uh production of green or clean or low carbon hydrogen and how and who
07:15will eventually pay for that because when you blend hydrogen for electricity production you are increasing the
07:22cost of production again back to november uh 8 of november power plant our state spent several hundred
07:31million dollars for this project but eventually this will help our economy but also help our climate
07:38goals we have to leave our conversation there but it's been a pleasure thank you so much for your
07:42time the pleasure is mine thank you thank you well that's all that we have time for in this episode
07:48of energy frontiers but join me again next time from our studio in baku azerbaijan i'll see you then
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