(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Abbas Ganbay Read more
Large-scale resettlement of citizens in the liberated
territories through sustainable settlement and reintegration of
economic activities is one of the five national priorities of
Azerbaijan outlined in the 2030 Strategy, which was developed on
the basis of the UN document "Transforming Our World: The 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development".
After the conclusion of the peace agreement between Armenia and
Azerbaijan in November 2020, Azerbaijan immediately started the
reconstruction, rehabilitation, and reintegration of liberated
Garabagh, which was subjected to colossal destruction during the
Armenian occupation over the past 30 years.
Azerbaijan intends to mobilize all resources and stakeholders to
revitalize Garabagh, transforming "ghost settlements" into "smart
cities" and "smart villages", paying special attention to the needs
of the most vulnerable groups - 1 million internally displaced
persons (IDPs) and refugees.
The first village to be reconstructed as a "smart village" was
Aghali village of Zangilan district, as well as the neighboring
parts of this district - Aghali 1, Aghali 2.
The concept of building smart villages includes environmentally
friendly houses, renewable energy sources, and new infrastructure
providing schools, houses, kindergartens, and other types of
buildings in the consumption of green energy that will be
distributed throughout the territory of smart villages. The first
state program "Great Return" in the liberated territories provides
for the return of more than 40 thousand families by the end of
2026, referring to the special representative of the President of
the Republic of Azerbaijan on the liberated territories Emin
Huseynov. Similar projects will be implemented in the "Bash
Garvand" village of Aghdam district, and unlike the previous two
projects, the planning of this project will be done by Slovak
specialists, where the financing will be done by the Azerbaijani
state.
Within the framework of the project on the basis of the concept
of "smart village," it is planned to restore the village with a
total area of 470 hectares, where at the first stage it is planned
to return more than 6000 people, at the subsequent stage 1170.
Today, Azerbaijan has fully regained its sovereignty over the
previously occupied lands by carrying out a brilliant local
operation to neutralize the terrorist organizations infesting the
territory of Garabagh. The Garabagh clan of separatists has been
put to an end and a full-scale operation on reintegration of the
Armenian inhabitants of Garabagh in accordance with the
Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan has been launched.
Azerbaijan's significant interest is seen in the reconstruction
and transformation of the previously occupied, as well as polluted
lands into new ecologically clean green energy zones. After the
activity of the separatist clan, the process of returning IDPs to
their native lands is difficult, as a huge amount of territory is
sown with mines, and the soil is not favorable for irrigation and
introduction of agriculture, after the activity of mining companies
during the occupation of Armenians.
What is a smart city and why is it needed?
A simplified understanding of the concept of "smart city"
defines it as a component of technological development, and
sustainable development, which selects cities and communities as
target groups improving the way of living and working in the city.
According to the UN Foundation population data, more than half of
the world's population lives in rapidly growing cities, and urban
population growth is expected to reach 70% by 2050. The main reason
for "urbanization", which leads to huge consumption of resources,
and negative environmental impacts, is the growth of the urban
population. This rapid population growth leads to technical,
social, and infrastructural problems such as waste management, air
pollution, and health problems. In order to significantly improve
health care, management of economic parts of social needs and
requirements, education, urbanization, and its drawbacks, the state
finds solutions in the implementation of the Sustainable
Development Plan 2030, and in this case, the "smart city" will help
us to do so.
Rapidly growing technological progress in most cities of the
world contributes to the introduction of developing AI in most
infrastructures of the states, in the implementation of
digitalization, the introduction of new databases on the population
for quality service of the needs of citizens, gradual replacement
of internal combustion engines with environmentally friendly
electric motors.
The favorable geographical location of Azerbaijan and the
economic region of Garabagh contribute to the implementation of the
construction of the energy sector on renewable energy sources in
the upland mountains, land, and sea routes.
Azerbaijan is one of the main suppliers of energy resources to
the European Union countries. Many Arab countries have built and
invested in the developing energy sector on renewable energy
sources in liberated territories. Countries like Turkiye, UAE, and
the Czech Republic along with companies from France, Britain, etc.
have started construction and investment in the economic sector of
Azerbaijan in its favorable geographical location.
Azerbaijan is cooperating with TotalEnergies and Nobel Energy to
build solar power plants with a total capacity of 650 MW and
further export the generated electricity to Turkiye. Nobel Energy
plans to commission a 100 MW solar power plant at the initial
stage.
The Azerbaijani-Turkish Energy Forum and the International
Conference "Nakhchivan - Green Energy Zone" held in Nakhchivan
contribute to the opening and construction of important economic
and energy-dependent infrastructures. As of today, at least 1000 MW
of renewable energy from Nakhchivan is planned to be exported.
With foreign investment, with 5000 MW of renewable energy
generation potential in Nakhchivan, the strategic goal for
Azerbaijan is to create approximately 1500 MW of wind and solar
power generation capacity. At the initial stage, Masdar is also
planning to build a 150 MW solar power plant in Azerbaijan.
Czech Engineering is also interested in cooperation with the
Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan on the construction of a solar
power plant in the Sadarak district of Nakhchivan on the border
with Turkiye, as well as on the construction and utilization of
power transmission lines.
The German company Notus intends to implement green energy
projects in Nakhchivan, where the construction of a 70 MW solar
power plant in the northwest of Nakhchivan, near the border with
Turkiye, is considered a pilot project at the initial stage.
In addition to the technological part of development, Azerbaijan
is rapidly building agro-parks in the liberated territories in
accordance with the priority of Garabagh revival, with the aim of
realizing the industrial potential of the region, reintegrating it
into the country's economy and providing employment for the
population, in accordance with the relevant decrees of the
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Aghdam Industrial Park
was established in Aghdam city and the Araz Valley Economic Zone
Industrial Park was established in Jabrayil district.
On 28 September, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham
Aliyev attended the inauguration of the Jahangirbeyli hydroelectric
power plant of the Azerenerji Open Joint Stock Company. In
accordance with the order of the President of the Republic of
Azerbaijan to create a new potential of "green energy" in the
territories liberated from occupation, AzerEnergy will build 10.5
megawatts of power at four sites in autumn 2022 in the Okhchuchay
section passing through Zangilan district, where construction of a
number of hydroelectric power plants with a total capacity of 42
megawatts has been started. Construction work on the Sarykishlak,
Shayifly, and Zangilan HPPs is nearing completion. Work on the
Jahangirbeyli HPP has been completed.
As of March 2023, 37 small HPPs with a total capacity of 240 MW
are under construction.
11 hydropower plants have been put into operation. Aghdam
Industrial Park and Araz Valley Special Economic Zone have been put
into operation.
The 42 MW Zangilan series of hydroelectric power plants, which
President Ilham Aliyev inspected in May this year, is the first
major energy project fully built in the territories liberated from
occupation. This project was realized in a record time of just one
year. Until now, neither in Azerbaijan nor elsewhere has there been
the fact of construction of hydroelectric power plants in such
quantity, or capacity, in this period.
It is reported that in the engine room built for Jahangirbeyli
HPP, two eco-friendly certified eco turbines of European production
of French type with a capacity of 5.25 megawatts each, generators
and remote-controlled digital equipment have been installed. The
plant will produce more than 30 million kilowatt hours of
electricity per year.
All this once again shows that Azerbaijan has achieved great
achievements by creating all these facilities and infrastructure in
the territories it liberated from occupation in the last three
years, and has even undertaken a responsible mission as an energy
carrier to European countries. With its recent anti-terrorist
measures, Azerbaijan once again demonstrated that it owns its
sovereign territories and is a guarantor of peace and security in
the region.
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Abbas Ganbay is AzerNews' staff journalist, follow him on
Twitter:
@Noend33
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