Plans have been devised to build a wind farm using turbines in the Azerbaijan Republic, said the managing director of MAPNA Group's Renewable Energy Production Company.
Akbar Adibfar added that a memorandum of understanding has been signed between Azeri officials and MAPNA to construct the wind farm in Baku.
According to Adibfar, the wind farm, fully equipped with 2.5-megawatt wind turbines manufactured by MAPNA, will generate as much as 50 MW of electricity in the first phase, Tasnim News Agency reported.
"As the feasibility studies have turned out to be positive, the contract is due to be finalized in the near future," he said.
MAPNA recently indigenized 2.5-megawatt wind turbines, which rotates at a minimum speed of 3.5 revolutions per second.
Stressing the use of reverse engineering—taking apart an object to see how it works in order to upgrade the device—to indigenize industrial equipment, Deputy Energy Minister Houshang Falahatian said, "Our industrial sector is able to produce even plane engines if they are supported and effective strategies are adopted as the competition is so intense."
According to Falahatian, the newly manufactured turbines are as practical as 160 MW ones since they have been developed based on the most cutting-edge technology.
Underscoring the key role of Energy Ministry in promoting domestic production, he emphasized that had it not been for the continued support of the ministry, infrastructures would not develop, nor could domestic production flourish.
Highlighting the ministry's policy of promoting the use of renewable energy resources, the official said, "The electricity generated from the renewable power plants using domestic equipment is purchased at a rate 15% higher than that produced from foreign equipment. Moreover, there are plans to raise the figure to 30%."
The macro policy of the Energy Ministry is to encourage investment in domestic production and avoid importing machinery that can be indigenized.
MAPNA has signed a contract with the ministry, based on which 90% of gas power plant construction operations will be undertaken by this group.
It is a leading Iranian industrial group that within two decades has made significant achievements in the fields of industry and technology, winning a world class status in the global market.
