THERE IS MORE LIGHT IN BAKU

In recent years, residents of Baku have almost forgotten about problems with electricity. Regardless of nasty weather and cold winter, Baku residents are not experiencing problems with electricity. Of course, the attention that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is paying to improving power supplies to the population and launching new generating and distributing capacities plays a great role here. This made it possible to fully meet the country's demand for electricity. The head of state prioritizes correct management of the distributing network, and the Bakielektriksabaka open joint-stock company can manage this task successfully.

Great investments have been made in the capital's electricity network in recent years, and they totally affected the stability of the system and finally resolved problems with power supplies. Even insignificant failures in individual parts of the capital are quickly eliminated by the staff of Bakielektriksabaka.

But the lack of any significant problems in the distributing network should make the company complacent, and Bakielektriksabaka is planning to develop the city's power system even further. To avoid making unsubstantiated statements, it is enough to note that in the first half of 2010 alone, the capacity of Baku's power networks increased by 3 per cent and reached 4,280 megawatt amperes (MWA), and by the end of the year, it will reach 4,650 MWA.

In six months, two 10 MWA transformers were replaced with more powerful 16 MWA ones at the 110/35/6 kW Badamdar substation. In order to improve the stability of the energy system, it is planned to lay two 110 kV cables from the Musviq substation.

Moreover, the new 110/35/6 kV Xoca Hasan substation with two 40 MWA transformers was built in order to supply electricity to new facilities in Binaqadi and Qaradag districts of Baku and reduce the pressure on the Binaqadi and Darnagul 2 substations. In order to supply the substation, two 110 kV power lines at a length of 40.3 km are being built from the Sanqacal substation.

On the whole, within the framework of preparations for the autumn-winter season, routine repair work was carried out at twenty 110 kV substations in the first half of 2010, while five substations were overhauled. Some 30 km of 110 kV power lines were also repaired.

Also, considerable work was carried in the 35-kV network. The 35/10 kV Nagornyy Park substation with two 16 MWA transformers is being built to improve power supplies to Baku's Sabayil district. In order to supply the substation, it is planned to lay 35 kV cables from the Badamdar, Icari Sahar and Narimanov substations.

Work is under way to reconstruct substation No 111 which supplies electricity to most of Baku's Nasimi and Yasamal districts. Specifically, equipment is being updated, and it is planned to install two new transformers.

In order to improve power supplies to Baku settlements, large-scale work is being carried out at several substations.

For example, in connection with the widening of the Buzovna-Bilgah-Nardaran road, the Nardaran-1 substation was rebuilt and provided with two 35/6 kV transformers with a capacity of 16 MWA each, closed-type 35 and 6 kV distributing installations were built, and aerial power lines to the substation were replaced with cable lines.

In the village of Buzovna, a closed-type substation has been built to replace open substation No 486, and work is under way to replace aerial power lines with cables. Also, a new substation has been built with two 16 MWA transformers to replace the old substation No 479 in the village of Zagulba.

At several 35-kV substations in Qaradag, Xatai and Binaqadi districts, transformers have been replaced with more powerful ones and aerial lines have been repaired. Repair work has also been carried at 35-kV substations and power lines in the villages of Ramana and Mastaga, as well as in Narimanov and Nasimi districts. 

In the 35-kV network as a whole, routine repairs and preventive work have been carried at 60 and capital repairs at 10 substations. Repair work has also been carried on 100 kilometres of aerial power lines, while 8.5 km of cables have been replaced.

Finally, the Bakielektriksabaka joint-stock company carried out significant work on the 10/6/0.4-kV network which ultimately supplies electricity to the population. In the first half of 2010, repair and preventive work covered 800 transformer centres, while 30 transformers were replaced with more powerful ones. Sixty kilometres of cables were laid in the 6-10-kV network and 80 km in the 0.4-kV network. Fifteen tones of cables were used to repair 6-10-kV aerial power lines and 4.6 tonnes - 0.4-kV lines.

In order to improve energy supplies, work is continuing to lay SIP cables to new houses in Baku villages. During this period, 980 km of main and 690 subscriber lines were laid, 25,143 new meters were installed and work was completed on 324 transformer centres and is under way at 88.

All this work will allow us to spend the next winter without any interruptions or problems with electricity.