Azerbaijan has inaugurated the 100 MW Gobustan Solar Power Plant in Baku’s Garadagh district, marking a new step in the country’s push to expand renewable energy.

President Ilham Aliyev attended the opening ceremony on September 16. Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov, Chinese Ambassador to Azerbaijan Lu Mei, and Universal International Holdings Limited CEO Yi Nan welcomed the president, according to Azertac.

President Aliyev was briefed on the solar plant and the operations of Universal Energy, the Shanghai-based Chinese company behind the project. The company specializes in green energy and energy storage solutions and also develops renewable energy projects in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

The Gobustan project is significant for Azerbaijan because it is the first renewable energy project awarded through an auction in the country. It is also Universal Energy’s first project in Azerbaijan.

The project was launched after Azerbaijan’s Cabinet of Ministers designated a 300.77-hectare site in Pirsaat settlement, Garadagh district, for renewable energy development in 2023. Universal International Holdings Limited won the auction to build the solar plant in 2024.

The facility is equipped with solar panels, field inverters and transformers, while all necessary cabling has been completed.

Once fully operational, the plant is expected to generate around 200 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. This could save approximately 45 million cubic meters of natural gas each year and cut carbon emissions by about 97,000 tons.

The project adds to Azerbaijan’s growing renewable energy capacity. With the Gobustan plant coming online, the country’s total renewable energy capacity is expected to reach 2,170 MW across 85 power plants.

These include 65 hydropower plants with a combined capacity of 1,443.5 MW, six wind farms totaling 306.5 MW, 10 solar plants with 378.2 MW, three hybrid plants with 7.3 MW, and one biomass plant with 37 MW.

Renewable sources will account for approximately 21.5% of Azerbaijan’s total power generation capacity.

Azerbaijan plans to add around 1.5 GW of new renewable energy capacity by the end of 2027 through projects developed with local and international partners.

The country estimates its technical renewable energy potential at 135 GW onshore and 157 GW offshore, while its economic potential is estimated at around 27 GW, including solar, wind, bioenergy and hydropower resources.