BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 15. Masdar, based
in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and SOCAR Green have announced
that they have reached financial close on the 315MW Neftchala Solar
PV project in Azerbaijan.
Masdar and SOCAR Green, a wholly owned subsidiary of
Azerbaijan’s SOCAR state oil company, are co-developing the
Neftchala project, in collaboration with the Ministry of
Energy.
Financing is being provided by the Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The document on "Confirmation of Financial Close for the
Neftchala 315 MW Solar Photovoltaic Project" was signed between the
Ministry of Energy, SOCAR, and Masdar.
“Located in the Neftchala district of Azerbaijan, the project is
expected to generate more than 686 million kilowatt-hours of
renewable electricity annually, enough to power around 140,000
homes, while avoiding approximately 280,000 tonnes of carbon
emissions each year,” said Masdar.
The Investment agreement for the 315MW Neftchala Solar project
was reached in October 2023, followed by the signing of Power
Purchase Agreements, Transmission Connection Agreements, and Land
Lease Agreements.
Masdar broke ground on the Neftchala solar plant at the opening
ceremony of Baku Week in June 2024.
In addition to the Neftchala project, Masdar is also developing
two other projects with SOCAR Green – the 445MW Bilasuvar solar
project and the 240MW Absheron-Garadagh onshore wind project –
taking Masdar’s total capacity in Azerbaijan to over 1.2GW.
