LIGHT AND HEAT

With the onset of cold weather, Baku residents follow the news about the readiness of businesses for the autumn-winter season with a special interest and some concern. And, of course, the focus is always the energy distributing network of the capital - whether Baku apartments will be light and warm in the cold days will largely depend on how its work is organized.

It should be noted right at the start that the development and improvement of the electricity sector is one of the main areas to which independent Azerbaijan is paying close attention at the highest level. By order of President Ilham Aliyev, a state programme for the development of the fuel and energy complex of Azerbaijan (2005-2015) was developed and approved, and it is a strategic document that defines the basic principles of improving the country's energy system for 10 years. And this programme is the basis of a number of intensive activities being implemented within the framework of the dynamic development of the power distributing network of Baku.

Baku energy workers say that they have prepared carefully for the next test of strength during the cold season 2012/2013, making every effort to minimize problems with energy supplies in this crucial period.

Construction, reconstruction, repair

As already noted, under this state programme, Bakielektriksabaka  is taking a series of measures to ensure uninterrupted power supplies to the capital and surrounding villages, improving the quality of customer services and bringing the metropolitan network in accordance with international standards. This work has been going on for the past 6 years - since the management of the Baku power grid was entrusted to local specialists.

In 2006, taking the "reins of power", the company leadership knew: Bakuvians expected drastic and significant changes in the energy sector. They were tired of constant shortages of electricity in winter, pitch dark streets at night and even more - of the meaningless excuses of the foreign company that preceded Bakielektriksabaka about all the problems. It is with a view to eliminating these problems that the investment programme of extensive repairs and preventative measures was prepared and adopted to ensure uninterrupted power supplies to customers, particularly to maintain the high level of service in the autumn-winter season.

According to the head of Bakielektriksabaka, Baba Rzayev, the work is being carried out by the order of President Ilham Aliyev to improve the quality of power supplies to the capital. And above all, power companies have to conduct activities to increase network capacity, in connection with which it has become important to create a power grid with a circular scheme based on international standards. Given this, the priority of the investment programme is the construction of new 110-kilovolt substations based on a circular scheme, which will ensure uninterrupted power supplies to Baku in the long-term and fully meet the capital's need for electricity. To this end, the Musfiq-Bayil and Xirdalan-203 overhead power lines were overhauled, substations 227, 203 and 215 were reconstructed, and modern substations 110/35/10-kV Liman with a capacity of 2x50 MVA, 110/35/6-kV Icarisahar with a capacity 2x40 MVA, and 110/20/6-kV New Bayil with a capacity 2x40 MVA were built and included in the circular scheme.

To ensure uninterrupted power supplies to the territory where events of the prestigious Eurovision Song Contest were held, the 35/6-kV substation Flag Square with a capacity of 2x25 MVA was built in Baku in May of this year, 35-kV cable lines between the New Bayil, Icarisahar and Flag Square substations and between the Nagornyy Park and Icari Sahar substations were laid. In addition, in connection with the competition, extra 10-kV cables were installed in order to improve power supplies to nearby objects, transformer points in the National Park and Icarisahar State Reserve were reconstructed, etc. Thus, energy workers made an important contribution to the worthy organization of the competition, which delighted Europe.

However, "fresh" projects also include the construction of two 35/6-kV power substations with a capacity of 2x25 MVA for high-quality power supplies to the Sixovo residential area, as well as the reconstruction of 20-kV power substation 107, 108, 109 and 118 existing in the 20th Sector housing estate. A large amount of restoration work is being completed.

Development and improvement

According to Baba Rzayev, all this work meant to improve the activity of Bakielektriksabaka, including the material and technical base of the network, is fully supported by President Ilham Aliyev. Owing to this, nineteen 110-kV modern substations and 46 new 35-kV substations have been built over the past 6 years, 228 new transformer units have been built and 400 existing ones have been reconstructed, and more than 10,000 km of power lines have been laid. As a result of all this work, the network's reception and distribution power increased by 70 per cent compared to 2006, technical losses of the network decreased by 6 per cent - to 10 per cent, and cases of excessive load on the network were completely eliminated. And all this is not the limit - work under the abovementioned investment programme continues to this day. In addition, the number of long emergency power cuts, which were frequent before the capital's power grid was entrusted to Bakielektriksabaka, has been reduced to a minimum in recent years. This result was achieved due to the same restoration work on the network, if more specifically, the construction of 0.4-kV networks with carrier insulating wires, the recording of the electricity consumed with the help of modern technology, the use of the new SCADA system in new substations for remote control and modern relay safety and automation systems.

Given the importance of reducing losses in the network and improving the registration systems, the Elester Metronika measuring system received from JSC Azerenergy was installed at substations and the meters that were at the disposal of customers were replaced with electronic ones. As a result of the thorough reconstruction of the network and the improvement of the registration system based on modern technology, the collection of payments for the use of electricity increased - currently the figure in the joint-stock company is over 93 per cent.

The updating of the registration system based on modern technology is continuing. For example, work is currently under way in Nasimi district to install meters working on the SMS Start modern system. The advantage of these meters is that the user himself can control the use of electricity, plan the family budget for public utilities and, most importantly, the human factor (supervisors, engineers, energy personnel) and vehicles are almost never used during payments.

Bakielektriksabaka sees one of the main attributes of its development in the application of new technologies, in connection with which the experience of developed countries is being studied and new equipment is being purchased. It is no accident that the company's partners in this area are the recognized leaders of the sector such as Siemens, ABB, Bauer, Schneider Electric, etc. Thanks to the latest technology, new closed substations have been created in Baku, and they are much more efficient both in terms of safety, time of operation, area of coverage and adherence to the principles of aesthetic conformity with the general appearance of the capital.

Human factor

As we can see, the Baku power grid is technically ready to face the cold. If customers encounter any problems, let us recall that the company has a 199 Emergency Service and a hotline, through which consumers can get answers to their questions 24 hours a day. To respond quickly to all queries, these structures have the necessary equipment and means of communication, modern technology, and their staff members have undergone special training.

Note also that various kinds of information can be found on the official website of the company (www.bes.az). Through payment machines installed in public places - metro stations, universities and large residential areas, each customer gets an opportunity to make a payment online.

However, Bakielektriksabaka is well aware that the basis of the success of all reforms is the human factor, and therefore the company is paying particular attention to improving the working conditions of technical staff, building new offices, warehouses for the storage of spare parts, buildings for testing and repairing electronic meters equipped with modern technology, etc.

The rate of the development of the network requires the involvement of more and more personnel each year. And now the company needs highly-qualified specialists who understand and know how to use them.

For the selection of personnel, the company has a CV bank, and short-listed applicants with no experience get the opportunity to complete courses at the Bakielektriksabaka Training Centre, the opening of which was attended by President Ilham Aliyev. The main activities of the Training Centre are training and retraining. The main distinguishing feature of the centre is that here students get not only theoretical knowledge - they also have an opportunity to make practical use of the knowledge they gain. In addition, close cooperation with universities training energy workers is continuing. In particular, the joint-stock company has taken part in strengthening the material-technical base and the education of students of the Department of Electric Networks and Systems at the State Oil Academy.

In short, we can say that Bakielektriksabaka is not ceasing even for a moment the execution of the complex of measures on all fronts to ensure high-quality and uninterrupted power supplies to customers. Any successful completion of another point of the investment programme is another step bringing the energy supply system of Baku closer to the latest international standards.