President Aliyev switches on landmark Azerbaijan BESS project

President Ilham Aliyev has switched on one of Azerbaijan’s biggest battery storage projects as part of a larger program of utility-scale BESS development spearheaded by AzerEnergy.

The state-owned power producer was tasked with establishing large energy storage centers with a total capacity of 250 MW/500 MWh across two main substations – the 500 KV Absheron and 220 kV Agdash substations.

The Absheron BESS includes 50 battery containers and 13 inverter containers. Project building work included construction of a modern control building for the Absheron BESS, which is equipped with a SCADA monitoring system to monitor battery performance, and to track frequency and voltage.

As reported by ESS News in September 2025, both projects in the 500 MWh BESS program will support grid stability, enable frequency regulation, compensate for active power deficits, meet peak loads, and smooth load curves during sunset hours. Both sites will also have black start capability to help restore the grid in the event of a major outage.

AzerEnerji Chairman of the Board of Directors, Baba Rzayev, briefed President Ilham Aliyev on how the BESS will benefit Azerbaijan’s energy system. The president was also given a tour of the site where extensive landscaping and greening work was carried out.

Absheron BESS has been commissioned as Azerbaijan pushes to expand the proportion of renewables in its energy generation mix. AzerEnerji has forecast more than 2.1 GW of renewable energy will be online by 2028, with solar and battery energy storage expected to play a key role in Azerbaijan’s future power system.

Clean power ambitions in Azerbaijan are backed by significant international development financing. The World Bank supported Azerbaijan Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Project (AZURE) was approved in 2025. It includes a $173.5 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and is expected to unlock an initial $384 million in private investments. The 500 MWh BESS projects, however, have been fully financed by internal funds according to AzerEnerji.

Azerbaijan has also bolstered its digital connectivity to support further renewables and energy storage deployment. The country has installed 4,700 km of fibre-optic cable infrastructure in the past seven years and a central SCADA system covering more than 550 energy facilities has been established.

Online diagnostic technologies (AGC, WAMS/WACS), artificial intelligence-based accident prediction and diagnostic systems are also being integrated into the nation’s energy system. A high-precision prediction system is being developed for solar and wind power plants, and AzerEnerji has created an internal department specifically for automating the management of the energy system.