16:05 - 27.12.2019

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December 27, Fineko/abc.az. Falling water level in the Caspian Sea threatens to stop the operation of ‘Sumgait’ power plant.

ABC.AZ reports that the statement was made at a press conference by Teymur Abdullayev, the head of the Center for Public Relations & Media of Azerenerji.

According to Abdullayev, it us linked with the fact that when designing power plant ‘Sumgait’ in 2004, the probability of falling sea level was not taken into account. In particular, the sea level has fallen by 1.30 m to date.

"Over the past few years the water level reached critical limit for the power plant, and if the water level in the Caspian Sea would have fallen by another 10 cm, then there would be no cooling water, and as a result, activities of Sumgait Power Plant would be stopped. That’s why Azerenerji has been holding discussions with foreign and local specialists since last autumn in order to resolve the problem in due time.

A decision was taken to install an overpass at distance of 750 m, allowing taking cold water from the shore of the Caspian Sea from depth of 5 m. This will create a system for transmitting single cooling water in the CIS space through the cascade to the cooling channel and from there to the station. Work is already underway on the principle of shift work. According to the schedule, work will be finished in a few months, and the station will be supplied with water from the depth of the Caspian Sea. It should be noted that since last autumn repairs and restoration works have been carried out at ‘Sumgait’ power plant with the participation of foreign and local specialists and the reliability of the plant has been improved," he said.