Decription of the project

This project aims to prevent the threats posed by geological hazards to 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 in the Country and are linked to the two largest water reservoirs in the Caucasus, as well as increasing stability in the region through practical cooperation. Any problem in production of energy would produce heavy societal negative impacts, as was already the case in June 2018, when an incident at the Mingachevir Thermal Plant paralyzed Azerbaijani military exercises and produced a major blackout in the country. Similar situations can lead to an escalation of already existing tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as these two energy plants are located near the border with the disputed territory of Nagorny Karabakh. Water comes from a cascade of two main interconnected lakes, Mingachevir, with a shoreline of 247 km, and Shamkir with a shoreline of 80 km. Despite a large part of these shorelines is made of up to 280-m-high rock cliffs, there are no available modern and complete quantitative assessments of their slopes’ stability. Landslides could also be triggered by the widespread seismic activity. Our prevention plan comprises: i) the assessment of the possible diverse geohazard scenarios that might affect the two reservoirs, ii) the planning of preventive measures that can be realistically adopted by the main involved end-users, iii) training activities that will be designed 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.