The Balkan province of Turkmenistan, located in the western part of the country, has many opportunities for the development of renewable energy, which is highly favored by the natural conditions of this region. Amanberdy Ashirov, a lecturer at the Department of Chemistry and Energy of the Yagshygeldi Kakayev International University of Oil and Gas’ Balkanabat branch, wrote an article for the newspaper “Neutral Turkmenistan” that discussed the potential for the growth of green energy in the Balkan province. Here is an abridged version of his article:
The Balkan province has a lot of potential for renewable energy because of the strong winds and abundant sun that are present there. The natural-climatic and landscape-geographical characteristics of the region also allow for extensive use of the flat’s potential for the placement of combined local and industrial installations.
Additionally, the possibility of using geothermal energy still exists because the Balkan region is home to many such sources that are associated with mud volcanoes. Additionally, the production of gaseous biofuels derived from organic processing will also help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
For the mountainous regions of the country, the practice of generating hydropower based on the discharge of water at the height difference between the catchments with pumping them back to their starting position will be interesting. Initially, the required volume of water can be obtained from rain streams, collected in reservoirs and cleaned of mechanical impurities.
The construction of such local facilities for obtaining environmentally friendly hydropower will increase the reliability of electricity supply to consumers in small settlements and shepherd camps located close to the foothills, where the rugged rocky landscape creates difficulties for laying transmission lines in the Kopetdag, Syunt-Khasardag and Koitendag mountains, located in the Akhal, Balkan, Lebap provinces, respectively.
Other ground-breaking concepts are emerging at the Research and Production Center “Renewable Energy Sources” of the Turkmenistan’s State Energy Institute. Scientists are developing solar energy production for use in daily life and production, and in the far future – the use of photovoltaic converters and accumulator devices in thermal energy, as well as in the transport sector through the use of electric vehicles.
Small renewable energy installations have already been built and are operating experimentally in the country, for example, in three desert state nature reserves. The design of houses for farmers and shepherds with autonomous energy and heat supply is adapted for arid climate.
These installations that provide light, heat, and desalinate water aid people in not feeling cut off from life. The adoption of renewable energy has progressively transitioned from the theoretical to the practical level with the introduction of such small-scale solar installations in the country nation and may soon become a part of daily life.
The benefits of renewable energy for humans prompted the design of larger industrial-scale installations, which will generate a significant amount of power to feed not one building, but a group of houses. And the first such project is already being implemented in the country according to the Decree of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov. The hybrid solar wind power plant is being built by the Turkish company Çalık Enerji. The plant’s capacity will reach 10 MW.
The facility is being built in accordance with the Concept of development of the Turkmen Lake “Altyn Asyr” for the period 2019-2025 and is designed to electrify the socio-economic cluster being built near a man-made reservoir. The modernity and environmental friendliness of the technologies embedded in the construction of residential and industrial facilities of this settlement allow us to classify it as a new type of village, friendly for environment.
The production of solar and wind energy will also create new jobs, increase the total capacity of the domestic energy sector. ///nCa, 12 May 2023