Projects & Grants
| Prevention of Geo-Threats to Azerbaijan's Energy Independence | |
|---|---|
| Project Id | SPS G5907 |
| Main solver | prof. RNDr. Tomáš Pánek, Ph.D. |
| Period | 5/2022 - 4/2025 |
| Provider | Ostatní projekty ze zahr. prostředků |
| State | solved |
| Anotation | This project aims to prevent the threats posed by geological hazards to the Azerbaijan's energy independence. The focus is on improving the resilience of the Shamkir and Mingachevir hydroelectrical power plants, which are the largest power stations of Azerbaijan and are based on the two largest water reservoirs in the Caucasus, and to increase stability in NATO?s neighbourhood through practical cooperation. Any problem in their production of energy would produce heavy societal negative response, as already occurred in June 2018 when an accident at Mingachevir Thermal Plant paralyzed Azerbaijani military exercises and produced a mass blackout in the country. This situation can lead to an escalation of tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia, being these two energy plants nearby the border with the disputed territory of Nagorny Karabakh. Moreover, possible water overflow across the Mingachevir dam can produce flooding of an area that might span from the town of Arran to the Azerbaijan?s capital Baku, to most of the Armenian-controlled Karabakh region. Our prevention plan comprises: i) the assessment of the possible diverse geohazard scenarios that might occur at the two reservoirs, ii) the planning of preventive measures that can be realistically adopted by the main involved end-users, iii) a series of training activities that will be deployed to improve the capacity and know-how of young researchers and technicians, and iv) the diffusion in the involved NATO-partner countries of new leading-edge technologies, represented for example by Virtual Reality and drone surveys, applied to solve the problems here described. |
