Azerenergy is the largest electrical power producer in the Republic of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

. It also maintains the largest distribution network in the country, although the regional power networks are being privatized. Azerenergy was recreated as a state-owned joint stock company in 1996, by decree of President Heydar Aliyev

Heydar Aliyev

Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev , also spelled as Heidar Aliev, Geidar Aliev, Haydar Aliyev, Geydar Aliyev was the third President of Azerbaijan for the New Azerbaijan Party from June 1993 to October 2003, when his son Ilham Aliyev succeeded him.From 1969 till 1982, Aliyev was also the leader of Soviet...

.

Power generation

Azerenergy operates the following hydroelectric plants

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

: Mingechevir Hydro Power Plant

Mingechevir Hydro Power Plant

The Mingechevir Hydro Power Plant is one of Azerbaijan's largest hydro power plant having an installed electric capacity of 402 MW. It was built as a part of Mingachevir reservoir on Kura River....

 in Mingachevir

Mingachevir

Mingachevir , sometimes spelled Mingecevir, is the fourth-biggest city in Azerbaijan with a population of about 100,000. It is known as city of lights because of its hydroelectric power station on the Kur River, which splits the city in half....

 on the Kura River

Kura River

Kura is a river, also known from the Greek as the Cyrus in the Caucasus Mountains. Starting in north-eastern Turkey, it flows through Turkey to Georgia, then to Azerbaijan, where it receives the Aras River as a right tributary, and enters the Caspian Sea...

, renovated in 2001, 360 MW; Varvara Hydro Power Plant

Varvara reservoir

- Overview :Varvara reservoir is located south from Mingachevir reservoir. It was built in 1952 to manage the water flow ofthe daily outflow of water from Mingachevir reservoir discharging into Kura river, in order to produce electricity. The overall area is and the reservoir volume is . The...

 at Varvara

Varvara, Azerbaijan

Varvara is a village and municipality in the Yevlakh Rayon of Azerbaijan. It has a population of 1,634....

 on the Kura River, 16 MW, in need of reconstruction; Shamkir Hydro Power Plant near Şəmkir on the Kura River, completed in 1982, 380 MW; Yenikand Hydro Power Plant, completed in 2000, 4,000 MW; Araz Hydro Power Plant

Aras Dam

The Aras Dam is an embankment dam on the Aras River along the border of Iran and Azerbaijan. It is located downstream of Poldasht in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran and Nakhchivan City in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Azerbaijan...

; and Vaykhir. The 25 MW Fuzuli Hydro Power Plant is under construction in the Fizuli Rayon near the Bash Mil canal.

Majority of Azerenergy electrical generation is done at thermal power plants where fossil fuel

Fossil fuel

Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...

s, mostly heavy fuel oil and natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

, are used to power steam turbines or gas turbine

Gas turbine

A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....

s. Coal powered generation ceased in 1991. Azerenergy has no nuclear power

Nuclear power

Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...

 nor geothermal

Geothermal power

Geothermal energy is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. Thermal energy is the energy that determines the temperature of matter. Earth's geothermal energy originates from the original formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of minerals...

 generating capacity. The thermal power plants of Azerenergy are: Azerbaijanskaya

Azerbaijan Thermal Power Plant

Azerbaijan Thermal Power Plant is an oil-fired power plant consisting of 8 units, each with 300 MW generation capacity at Mingecevir, Azerbaijan. The units were inaugaurated step by step from 1981 and 1990 and were built by Tanganrog , LMZ Russia and Electrosila 8 generator). Qarabag Canal is...

, natural gas powered, under reconstruction, 2,400 MW; Shirvan; Shimal Power Plant; Baku ThermoPower Centre, cogeneration

Cogeneration

Cogeneration is the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat....

reconstruction completed in 2001, 110 MV; Severnaya Gas Combined Cycle Power Plant; Babek Power Plant; Astara Power Plant; Shaki Power Plant; Khachmaz Power Plant, natural gas powered, completed 2006, 90 MW; Nakhichevan Power Plant; Baku 3 Power Plant, natural gas powered, completed in 2007, 108 MW; Sangachal Power Plant; Shahdagh Power Plant; and Sumgait Power Plant.