THE BRIGHT LIGHTS OF BAKU

Perhaps, never before has Baku by night been so handsome - streets and avenues brightly lit with hundreds of original lamps, the unusually warm illumination of old architectural buildings, colourful shop windows and millions of lights twinkling from homes... A few years ago, all of the above was almost a dream for the residents of the Azerbaijani capital - something that existed only in prosperous Europe or America. The depressing darkness of the streets, lit only by car headlights and homes or entire neighbourhoods left without electricity and heat for several hours almost every day - that was commonplace. Many residents of Baku hoped that the energy supply situation in the city would be rectified after the business was handed over to foreign investors for management. But... the outcome of this enterprise, as many remember, was unpleasant. As a result, everything went back to square one - power supplies in Baku are now dealt with by the Bakielektriksabaka joint-stock company and, to the surprise of many, it was after this that the situation in this area improved significantly. This is graphically proven by the bright lights of Baku at night.

It must be noted that the priority task of Bakielektriksabaka, which began its work in 2006, was to update the network infrastructure - many problems with energy supplies arose precisely because of the deterioration of equipment, power lines etc. On the basis of a programme prepared in accordance with instructions and directives issued by President Ilham Aliyev, the company began reconstruction work and has already overhauled the 110 kV overhead lines that are so important in providing electricity to the city of Baku. In its period of activity, Bakielektriksabaka has constructed nine new 110 kV substations provided with electrical equipment. To feed these substations, the company has already installed 110 kV bi-revolution overhead lines with a total length of about 50 km. It has also constructed, and operates, 18 substations with a capacity of 35 kV and carried out reconstruction work on the 110 kV substation Yasamal-1 and 35 kV substations No 117 and 99. Now, incidentally, the company is building the Liman and Hocasan 110 kV substations and is reconstructing substation No 227, with a capacity of 110 kV. At the same time, the reconstruction of 10 power substations with a capacity of 35 kV has been completed. One of the most important achievements is the construction of 78 transformer points, while 1,500 points were overhauled. To improve energy supplies to the population, 800 new transformers with a capacity of 10/6/0.4 kV have been installed.

In parallel, the primary issue was the need to increase network capacity because in recent years Baku has been growing incredibly quickly, with new high-rise residential complexes, businesses, bridges and roads - all of these place an additional load on the network. The timely commissioning of 2,000 km of main lines and 1,750 km of subscriber lines using SIP cables, as well as over 41,000 pillars, helps them cope with new tasks. Consumers supplied with power from the new 0.4 kV networks have had more than 100,000 electronic meters installed. This work has been carried out in the Sabayil, Xatai, Yasamal, Narimanov, Suraxani, Qaradag, Azizbayov, Binaqadi and Sabuncu districts, as well as in suburban villages and towns, and continues to this day. It must be noted that the main advantages of SIP cables are that they ensure the reliability of electricity distribution networks and economize on operational costs. As a result of this work, the network capacity has been increased by 38 per cent; while in 2006 it was 3,048 MW, it is now 4,208 MW.

Of course, such a large number of measures require major capital expenditure, to ensure which, among other things, there is a need for an appropriate response from consumers in the form of payment for electricity consumption. A few years ago this was a serious problem but, thanks to strict control, explanatory work and the introduction of more convenient and credible ways of payment (through banks, the Internet etc.) it has been possible to solve it. In this case, we would like to add to the first point that Bakielektriksabaka installs only electronic meters, which ensures the correct recording of electricity consumption. At the same time, it is more difficult to tamper with electronic meters than with mechanical ones. It must be noted that the number of subscribers serviced by Bakielektriksabaka is 701,718, while the number of electric meters installed since the opening of the company is 406,130 and in the future it is planned to install another 300,000 meters. A major achievement in this direction will be the introduction of smart meters in 2010.

Thus, in 2009, it proved possible to collect 273.8 million AZN for electricity (89.4 per cent of the cost of the electricity sold), which is 5.9 million manats more than in 2008 and 30.7 million manats more than in 2007. The population's contribution to this amount was distributed as follows: 87.1 million manats in 2009, which is 18.9 million AZN or 27.7 per cent more than in the corresponding period of 2008, and 38 million AZN or 77.5 per cent more than in the corresponding period of 2007. In 10 months of 2009, Azarenerji received 226.5 million AZN (83.6 per cent of the cost of electricity) for electricity purchased. In comparison with the figure for 2008, this is 5 per cent higher and compared with 2007 - 21 per cent higher.

Moreover, as a result of the above work, wasteful energy consumption has been eliminated, technical losses reduced, a precise recording system installed and, despite the increasing pace of economic development, compared with previous years, the volume of electricity purchased from Azarenerji has decreased. For example, in 10 months, the amount of electricity purchased from Azarenerji, compared with the same period of 2008, decreased by 415 million kW/h, and compared with 2007 - by 629 million kW/h, and totalled 6 billion 608.9 million kW/h.

However, Baku is developing very rapidly, which means that Bakielektriksabaka needs new solutions and new projects to maintain and improve the quality of customer services. The company says that its oldest dream is the construction of a 110 kV ring system, as is practised in large cities. To begin with, a closed Icari Sahar substation, with a capacity of 110/35/10 kV, was built and put into operation. The Icari Sahar substation is the first closed substation in the CIS. The substation is equipped with gas-insulated equipment and, in comparison with an open substation, it occupies an area that is a tenth of the size. In general, it is planned to build 15 such stations in the city centre and 6 in the suburbs. The company's future plans also include improving power supplies to new residential buildings, office buildings, the sports complex in Heydar Aliyev Avenue, the Baku metro, the introduction of the SAP AG programme, repair of transformers, the reconstruction of the network, using SIP cables etc.

However, it should be noted that new technology requires training of personnel to ensure the smooth and effective operation of the network. To this end, in 2007, Bakielektriksabaka sent some of its employees to undergo training at leading educational centres in the CIS and Turkey. We must say that the management of the network devotes great attention to improving the skills of its professionals, thus more than 550 people have attended courses at the company's education centres. Moreover, courses were even organized to install electric meters and record power consumption. New staff members of Bakielektriksabaka must undergo compulsory training and, incidentally, they are recruited after approval by a special recruitment commission which assesses the abilities and skills of applicants. In principle, there are enough people willing to join the company, since the network management pays increased attention to the social status of its employees. In 6 months of 2009 alone, the company allocated 98,663 manats for financial assistance and other social activities while, in 2008, the figure totalled 186,013 manats.

In short, Bakielektriksabaka takes a comprehensive approach to improving the quality of energy supplies to the Azerbaijani capital. Many years of history, a solid foundation and the desire to improve help to attain new heights. So, the lights of Baku will become even brighter.