President Aliyev: Accident that occurred twice must be seriously investigated

A zerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held a meeting in connection with the recent situation in the country’s energy system on July 4.

Addressing the meeting, President Aliyev noted that as a result of an accident that occurred at the Thermal Power Plant LLC in Mingachevir, serious problems have arisen in the energy supply of our country.

“Following prompt measures, energy supply was restored in a few hours. A State Commission has been established to investigate the issue on my executive order this morning, and it has already started work. Several tasks have been set before the commission. The main one is to investigate the issue and identify causes for the breakdown. In addition, the commission should identify those responsible, submit suggestions on measures to be taken in respect of them, and prepare an action plan to ensure that such breakdowns do not happen again,” he said.

Power supply was interrupted again last night, he said, stressing that as a result of the measures taken, power supply was restored in a short time again.

President Aliyev further noted that a serious task was given to all state bodies, that is to ensure that their representatives provide assistance to the population in such circumstances.

“I can say that all state bodies have displayed high professionalism in implementing this task. As a result of their successful work, the breakdown has been practically eliminated. Although our citizens have experienced great difficulties, no serious incidents have occurred,” he said.

He went on to add that the people of Azerbaijan have shown great responsibility and great civil solidarity in this regard.

President Aliyev emphasized that the accident that occurred twice must be seriously investigated.

“Major investments have been made in the energy sector of Azerbaijan in recent years. Dozens of new power plants were commissioned in Azerbaijan in the past 15 years. New power plants with a capacity of 2,500 megawatts have been built in the past 15 years. At present, our energy potential is 6,400 megawatts. Of these, 2,500 megawatts, as I have already noted, have been created over the past 15 years. New power stations have been built in all the regions of our country – in the cities of Baku, Sumgayit and Shirvan, in Astara, Khachmaz, Sheki and Guba districts. At the same time, hydropower stations have been established in the regions,” he said.

The geography of these stations suggests that we are striving for the construction of new stations in all the regions of our country to ensure that the energy system is sustainable, noted the head of state.

“However, practically the entire energy system was put out of action as a result of one breakdown. This raises very serious questions. This issue must be seriously investigated. As a result of the breakdown, people experienced great inconveniences in this hot weather. The economy sustained significant damage,” he said.

“It is true that both in the first and second cases, power supply was promptly restored as a result of prompt action, in a matter of a few hours. However, these breakdowns should not have happened. And even if they occurred, they should not have had such consequences. Breakdowns do occur: both in this industry and in others. No-one is immune from that in any country of the world. However, a breakdown should be local in nature. A breakdown that occurred at one station has dealt a huge blow to our entire energy system. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a serious investigation and those responsible must be held accountable. I want to reiterate that we should prepare an action plan that would protect us from such breakdowns and their possible implications in the future,” the President said.

Chairman of the State Commission Yagub Eyyubov, while reporting, said that according to the data of Azerishig OJSC, at present the country's demand is 3,150 megawatts.

“The power transmitted to the distribution networks is 2,900 megawatts. Now about 250 megawatts is lackng. The city of Baku is 100 percent provided with electricity, and settlements adjacent to Baku, the city of Khirdalan and districts by 85 percent,” he said.

President of the Azerenerji OJSC Etibar Pirverzhiev, in his speech, tried to explain the situation by high demand in power among population in the last month.

“If we take the daily electricity production in June, then, at the beginning of the month, we see that the daily consumption is 50-55 million kilowatt-hours. And over the last week this figure has risen to 7075 million,” he said.

Ilham Aliyev noted that this cannot be the cause of the accident.

“Some people link it to hot weather. There are countries even hotter than ours. No such breakdowns occur there. When they do occur, the country's entire energy system does not fail. I repeat, breakdowns can occur. Work must be carried out and is carried out to eliminate the consequences. But the failure of the entire energy system of the country because of one breakdown is a huge mistake, to put it mildly. At present, we have sufficient power capacity. I said this in my opening remarks. In the last 15 years alone, we have established power plants with a capacity of 2,500 megawatts. We are exporting electricity to foreign countries now. Therefore, growth in consumption due to hot weather cannot be the cause for the breakdown,” he said.

“If we calculate only the losses of the Oil Company mentioned here, the country has sustained huge economic damage. I have allocated so much investment to this sphere. Major funds are allocated to this sphere from the State Investment Program every year. New power stations are built. The Northern-2 power station is currently under construction. Over the past 15 years, 30 stations have been built. It is necessary to create a system in which the country's entire energy system would not go out of service because of a single breakdown,” President Aliyev said.

Then, Minister of Emergency Situations Kamaladdin Heydarov, Minister of Internal Affairs Ramil Usubov, Minister of Health Ogtay Shiraliyev, Chairman of Azersu OJSC Gorkhmaz Huseynov, Chairman of Azerishig JSC Balababa Rzayev, Chairman Baku Metro CJSC Zaur Huseynov, General Director of Baku Transport Agency Vusal Kerimli, Prosecutor General Zakir Garalov reported to the President.

In his closing remarks, President Aliyev once again emphasized that the accident must be investigated.

“Now there is preliminary information, but more detailed information is needed. Although the causes of the accident seem important, even more important is the issue of the overall energy system’s failure as a result of the accident. This is a very serious fact, and additional measures must be taken to ensure that in case of an accident in the future this wouldn’t affect the entire system,” he said.

This should become the main direction in the work of the commission, the head of state added.

“An action plan should be prepared. It should include the ideas that were voiced at this meeting, as well as the issue of attracting international audit. I think that this is very important. It is necessary to conduct full inspection and audit of the thermal power plant in Mingachevir. At the same time, it is necessary that leading international structures that are professionals in this field conduct an analysis of the entire energy system of our country and submit their proposals. All those guilty in this case must be identified and punished,” he said.

The Azerbaijani president expressed his gratitude to Russia and Georgia, which helped in this situation.

“As you know, Azerbaijan maintains close relations with these countries, we have friendly relations, and in case of any kind of accident, they provide help, and we do it as well. I think this is a very important factor, and I would like to express my gratitude once again,” he added.

A failure of the equipment, which led to an accident in the power supply system, occurred on the night from July 2 to July 3 at one of the substations of the Azerbaijan Thermal Power Plant in Mingachevir city.

Following the incident, supply of electricity to 39 cities and districts of Azerbaijan, including Baku and Ganja, was interrupted.

The state commission was established upon Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s decree in connection with the accident that occurred at one of the substations of the Azerbaijan Thermal Power Plant LLC.

The state commission was charged with investigating of the reasons of the accident and informing the president of Azerbaijan, determining and taking immediate measures to eliminate the consequences of the accident and systematically updating the president about the conducted work.

Together with the Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Prosecutor General's Office was instructed to conduct immediate measures to investigate the causes of the accident and bring the perpetrators to justice.