Tag Archives: wind

Uzbekistan joins IRENA

With help from the EBRD, Georgia opens its first large wind farm

TBILISI, OCT. 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Georgian government unveiled the 20.7MW Kartli Wind Farm, Georgia’s first large-scale wind farm which is considered a key milestone towards both boosting its power production and increasing its green energy footprint.

Kartli Wind Power Plant, a joint venture owned by the Georgian Energy Development Fund (GEDF) and Oil and Gas Company of Georgia, manages the project, which cost $34m to build. GEDF is part-owned by the EBRD, which loaned $22m for the project.

At the inauguration ceremony near the town of Gori in central Georgia, PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili lauded the project and highlighted its importance.

“This project is an indication that Georgia is becoming a truly developed country with leading technologies,” Mr Kvirikashvili said.

“This wind farm will enable us to partly meet our electricity demand during winter time.”

The government has pushed for the development of wind projects across the country to increase domestic production and limit the growth in imports during the winter months.

In the summer, Georgia exports its electricity surplus from its hydropower plants, mainly to Russia and Turkey.

The Kartli wind farm aims to reduce the winter gap and lower carbon emissions.

The EBRD also praised the project and said that it was ready to lend more funds to develop the country’s renewable energies.

“The EBRD stands ready to support Georgia in promoting renewable energy sources and this project confirms our determination to continue making significant investments in renewable energy,” Aida Sitdikova, EBRD’s regional director for Energy, said in a statement.

The Kartli Wind Farm is the biggest wind power project in the South Caucasus although Azerbaijan said it was considering erecting a wind farm in the Caspian Sea.

Power production has become a major headache for governments in the region as they try to feed electricity to growing populations and also replace aging Soviet infrastructure.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)

Turkey Calik to build plant in Georgia

MARCH 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkey’s Calik Holding said it wants to build a combined-cycle thermal, wind and hydropower station and a gas storage facility in Georgia. Calik’s chairman Ahmet Calik and Georgia’s PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili met in Tbilisi and discussed Calik’s plans in Georgia. Calik has already built a 220 MW combined-cycle power plant in Gardabani, 40km south of Tbilisi.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 274, published on April 1 2016)

Georgia announces first wind farm tender

JAN. 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia announced a tender to build its first wind farm in conjunction with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The project is estimated to cost $35m, with the EBRD giving a $25m loan. The wind farm will consist of 10 turbines and produce two megawatts of power. States in Central Asia and the South Caucasus are investing in wind power to help meet power demand.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Azerbaijan plans wind farm

OCT. 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s Agency for Renewable Energy said it is developing a 200 megawatt wind farm in the Caspian Sea, to help diversify the country’s energy supply. The project will cost around 450-500m manat (around $450m). Azerbaijan, which has only minor renewable energy production, wants to reach a capacity of 2 gigawatt by the end of the decade.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)

Georgia plans to build windfarm

MARCH 31 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia plans to build a small windfarm between Tbilisi and Gori to the northwest, media reported. This is the first wind farm in the country and is part-funded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)

Kazakh President snubs green energy

SEPT. 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev hinted at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that he may not be as enamoured with green energy as he has suggested.

This is important because Kazakhstan’s government has spent time and money promoting itself as a standard bearer for Green Energy, including devoting much of the sales pitch of its centrepiece event EXPO-2017 in Astana to it.

“I personally do not believe in alternative energy, such as wind, and solar,” media quoted Mr Nazarbayev as saying after meeting Mr Putin in Atyrau on the Caspian Sea coast.

“I think the shale euphoria also does not make much sense. Oil and gas are our main horses and we do not need to be afraid that they are fossil fuels.”

This view may not be that surprising, afterall the economies of both Kazakhstan and Russia are based on oil and gas exports.

Even so, Kazakhstan has given the impression it wants to move on from its reliance on oil and gas for its wealth.

Throughout Kazakhstan’s cities advertise EXPO-2017 with posters carrying the slogan ‘The Energy of the Future’ against a background of a green valley filled with wind turbines and solar panels.

Kazakhstan’s future energy policy is further complicated because it has agreed a deal with Russia to build a new nuclear power station.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 202, published on Oct. 1 2014)

Uzbekistan plans to construct wind farm

SEPT. 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan plans to start construction of its first wind farm by 2016, pro-government media quoted the director of the institute of energy at Uzbekistan’s Science Academy, Hakim Muratov, as saying. He said Germany’s GEO-NET Umweltconsulting is assessing the best spots.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)

Georgia to build first wind farm

JULY 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Work has begun on building Georgia’s first wind farm, media quoted the Georgian minister for energy, Kakha Kaladze, as saying. Mr Kaladze said a small wind farm capable of producing 20MW of power would be operational in central Georgia by 2014. If the project is a success, more wind farms are planned.

(News report from Issue No. 145, published on July 29 2013)

Kazakhstan invests $1b in wind power