Azerbaijan | RISE

Indicators	Score
High impact country, score not evaluated.

Indicators	Score
1. Legal framework for renewable energy	80
2. Planning for renewable energy expansion	58
3. Incentives and regulatory support for renewable energy	6
4. Attributes of financial and regulatory incentives	8
5. Network connection and use	6
6. Counterparty risk	17
7. Carbon Pricing and Monitoring	0

Indicators	Score
1. National energy efficiency planning	47
2. Energy efficiency entities	58
3. Incentives & mandates: Industrial and Commercial End users	0
4. Incentives & mandates: Public sector	50
5. Incentives & mandates: Utilities	18
6. Financing mechanisms for energy efficiency	0
7. Minimum energy efficiency performance standards	0
8. Energy labeling systems	0
9. Building energy codes	27
10. Transport sector	0
11. Carbon Pricing and Monitoring	0

Indicators

1Electrification PlanningN/A

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Existence

Is there an officially approved national electrification plan?

Is the electrification plan developed based on demand assessment?

Were there any public consultations while developing the plan?

Is there a provision for the plan to be periodically evaluated?

Public availability of electrification plan

Are the electrification plan and the updates publicly available?

Is there an electricity access target in the national electrification plan?

Targets and implementation

Is there a requirement for periodic progress reports tracking progress towards the defined energy access target?

Does the tracking get published?

Institutional set-up

Are there institution(s) responsible for carrying out the following functions:

Setting electrification strategy?

Setting electrification milestones and deadlines?

Coordinating generation, transmission, and distribution plans and their implementation?

Reporting progress towards the defined energy access target/milestones with periodic reports?

2Scope of officially approved electrification planN/A

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Service level target

Does the plan target a service level (e.g., power availability, number of guaranteed hours of power supply, etc.)?

Inclusion of off-grid solutions

Does the electrification plan include off-grid solutions (either/or both minigrids and standalone systems)?

Inclusion of community and productive services

Does the plan include productive uses (e.g. agricultural, commercial, and industrial activities)?

Does the plan include community facilities (e.g. health centers, schools, administrative buildings)?

Inclusion and gender sensitivity

Does the plan specifically address the electricity access of female-headed households?

Does the plan include areas with informally settled people/groups?

Geospatial mapping

Are there geospatial maps conveying the timeframe of planned grid extension?

Are these geospatial maps made publicly available?

3Framework for grid electrificationN/A

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Funding support for grid electrification

Does the government have a dedicated funding line or budget for electrification (e.g., funded national program, budget item, rural electrification fund to finance grid extension)?

Are there capital subsidies paid to the utilities to provide distribution systems to rural areas/villages?

Funding support for consumer connections

Is there a connection fee? If Yes, answer subset questions

Are there consumer financing mechanisms (i.e. utility loans, on bill financing, micro-loans etc.) and/or direct subsidies available to support the payment of connection fees by consumers?

Are there consumer financing mechanisms targeting specifically female headed households?

Are there consumer financing mechanisms targeting low-income households?

Standards of performance on quality of supply

Does the government specify standards of performance on reliability (e.g. number of guaranteed hours per day, duration of the electricity, frequency of outages, etc.)?

Is there a periodic reporting system in place to ensure standards compliance?

4Framework for minigridsN/A

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Existence of national program

Are minigrids legally allowed to operate in the country?

Are there programs which aim to develop minigrid systems or support the development of minigrids systems?

Are there national programs which aim to develop stand-alone systems or support the development of stand-alone systems?

Legal framework for minigrids operation

Do the regulations clarify what will occur when the interconnected grid reaches a minigrid?

Can minigrids be owned and operated by private operators?

Are there clear licensing procedures for minigrid operators and consumers?

Do the regulations differ by size of minigrids?

Ability to charge cost-reflective tariffs

Are minigrid operators legally allowed to charge a cost-reflective tariff, even if it is different from the national tariff?

Financial incentives

Are there publicly funded mechanisms to secure viability gap funding for operators?

Are there duty exemptions and/or capital subsidies for minigrid systems and/or individual components?

Are there specific financing facilities (access to credit etc.) available to support operators?

Are there duty exemptions and/or subsidies to support standalone home systems?

If yes, is there clear eligibility criteria for subsidies?

Are there legal restrictions that limit the prices standalone home system retailers or service providers can charge?

Are there specific financing facilities available to support operators/consumers to develop/ purchase standalone home systems?

Standards and quality

Are there technical standards detailing the requirements for minigrids to connect the grid?

Are technical standards made publicly available?

Are there safety standards for minigrids (e.g. overcurrent protection, system control, etc.)?

Are these safety standards made publicly available?

Has the government adopted international quality standards for stand-alone systems?

Are there environmental regulations on the disposal of solar devices and standalone home system products or components?

5Framework for stand-alone systemsN/A

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Existence of national program

Are minigrids legally allowed to operate in the country?

Are there programs which aim to develop minigrid systems or support the development of minigrids systems?

Are there national programs which aim to develop stand-alone systems or support the development of stand-alone systems?

Financial incentives

Are there publicly funded mechanisms to secure viability gap funding for operators?

Are there duty exemptions and/or capital subsidies for minigrid systems and/or individual components?

Are there specific financing facilities (access to credit etc.) available to support operators?

Are there duty exemptions and/or subsidies to support standalone home systems?

If yes, is there clear eligibility criteria for subsidies?

Are there legal restrictions that limit the prices standalone home system retailers or service providers can charge?

Are there specific financing facilities available to support operators/consumers to develop/ purchase standalone home systems?

Standards and quality

Are there technical standards detailing the requirements for minigrids to connect the grid?

Are technical standards made publicly available?

Are there safety standards for minigrids (e.g. overcurrent protection, system control, etc.)?

Are these safety standards made publicly available?

Has the government adopted international quality standards for stand-alone systems?

Are there environmental regulations on the disposal of solar devices and standalone home system products or components?

6Consumer affordability of electricityN/A

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Cost of subsistence consumption in 2019, 2018 and 2017

What is the cost per kWh that a residential consumer pays for the first 30 kWh of consumption per month? If there is a social/ lifeline/poverty tariff, please provide that tariff amount for 2019, 2018 and 2017

Affordability of the connection fee

What is the electricity connection fee for residential consumers? If there is a subsidy for consumers in the lowest income bracket, please provide the subsidized cost. Provide these details for 2019, 2018 and 2017

Policy to support low-volume consumers

Is there a mechanism to support low-volume consumers such as social or lifeline tariff?

7Utility Transparency and MonitoringN/A

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Publicly available financial statements

Are the financial statements of the largest utility publicly available for each of the following?

Generation

Transmission

Distribution

Retail sales

If yes, are they audited by an independent auditor for each of the following?

Generation

Transmission

Distribution

Retail sales

Publicly available annual reports

Are the following metrics published in a primary official document (by the utility, regulator or ministry and/or government)?

Generation - Electricity available for sale to end-users

Transmission - Transmission loss rate

Distribution - Distribution loss rate

Retail Sales - Bill collection rate

Usage of outage recording system

Is the utility operating an incidence/outage recording system (or SCADA/EMS with such functionality)?

Publicly available reliability measurements

Is the utility measuring the SAIDI and SAIFI or any other measurements for service reliability?

Are the measurements reported to the regulatory body?

Are the measurements available to public?

8Utility CreditworthinessN/A

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Current ratio

EBITDA margin

Debt Service coverage ratio

Days payable outstanding

Indicators

1PlanningN/A

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Tracking

Does the government track household level data on cooking solutions?

Is the data publicly available?

Existence of plan

Is there a national or regional plan to scale up access to clean cooking solutions, or is access to clean cooking solutions covered as a part of any other government plan (regardless of the sector)?

If yes, does the plan currently in use allocate resources for implementation?

Has the plan gone through public consultation?

Institutional capacity

Are there agencies dedicated to the following functions?

Setting clean cooking strategy/action plan

Setting, monitoring and enforcing standards for clean cooking solutions

Tracking access and adoption of clean cooking solutions

2Scope of planningN/A

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Aspects of the plan

Does the plan include the goal of reaching universal access to clean cooking for the population targeted in the plan?

Does the plan take into account geographical and demographical considerations?

Does the plan include considerations and action items for involving women throughout the supply chain of clean cooking solutions?

Does the plan prioritize the most vulnerable consumers?

Does the plan incentivize transition to tier 3 and above cooking fuels and technologies?

Awareness strategy

Is there a targeted awareness raising strategy to drive adoption of clean cooking solutions?

Does the strategy take into account geographical and demographical considerations?

Does the strategy have targeted messages for both men and women?

Does the strategy include health aspects?

Does the strategy aim to involve local community organizations?

Last mile distribution

Is there a last mile distribution strategy3 in place for cooking fuels?

Is there a last mile distribution strategy in place for cooking technologies?

3Standards and labelingN/A

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Standards

Are there standards for the following aspects of clean cooking solutions

Efficiency

Emissions

Safety

Monitoring and verification

Are the standards mandatory, with a verification and enforcement procedure?

Does the program work with a standards testing facility or lab?

Does the stove testing facility or lab need to be accredited?

Have the standards been verified through field testing?

Labeling

Have labeling schemes been adopted on clean cooking products for efficiency of clean cooking products?

Have labeling schemes been adopted on clean cooking products for emissions of clean cooking products?

4Incentives and attributesN/A

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Financing mechanisms

Are there specific financing facilities available to support suppliers/consumers to develop/purchase clean cooking solutions?

Are there specific financing or subsidy programs for clean cooking solutions targeted to low income consumers?

Supplier incentives

Are there duty exemptions, tax benefits, and/or subsidies to support clean cooking solutions?

Are there programs for commercial entities to invest in efficient, low-emission stoves?

Indicators

1Legal framework for renewable energy80

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Legal framework for renewable energy

Does the legal framework allow private sector ownership of renewable energy generation?

Yes

Does an official renewable energy target exist?

Yes

Is the target legally in binding?

Is the RE target linked to international commitments (e.g. NDC or regional commitment)?

Yes

Is there a renewable energy action plan or strategy to attain the target?

Yes

2Planning for renewable energy expansion58

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Electricity - targets and plans

Is there an assessment of the role of renewables in electricity supply?

Yes

Is there a target for renewables in electricity?

Yes

Heating and Cooling - targets and plans

Is there an assessment of the needs for heating and cooling in buildings and industry in the country and of how renewables can contribute?

Yes

Is there a specific target for renewables for heating and cooling?

Yes

Transport - targets and plans

Is there an assessment of the needs for heating and cooling in buildings and industry in the country and of how renewables can contribute?

Is there a specific target for renewables for transport?

Institutions and meeting targets

Does the renewable plan or strategy estimate the amount of investment necessary to meet the RE target?

Yes

Is there an institution responsible for tracking progress in renewable energy development?

Yes

Is there any periodic reporting mechanism for renewable energy progress?

Yes

Is there a mechanism for adjusting the plan based on reporting of renewable energy deployment?

Renewable energy in generation and transmission planning

Is generation and transmission planning integrated?

Is planning for dispatch included in the generation and transmission plan?

Does electricity generation planning include renewable energy development?

Is the generation plan based on a probabilistic approach?

Does the current transmission planning consider renewable energy scale-up?

Yes

Resource data and siting

Has the country carried out geospatial planning or produced zoning guidance to inform the commercial development of the RE resource?

Yes

Has the geospatial planning or zoning guidance been carried out according to best practices by: i) being undertaken as part of a strategic environmental and social assessment or equivalent process; and ii) by making the outputs publicly available?

3Incentives and regulatory support for renewable energy6

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Financial and regulatory support for electricity

Does the country offer long-term PPAs for renewable electricity production by large-scale producers(e.g. via. feed-in-tariffs, PPAs awarded through auctions etc.)

Does the country offer long-term PPAs for renewable electricity production by small-scale producers(e.g. via. feed-in-tariffs, PPAs awarded through auctions etc.)

Does the government publish clear and practical guidance on what permissions are required to develop a RE electricity project?

Does the government offer other direct fiscal incentives for renewable electricity (e.g. capital subsidies, grants or rebates, investment tax credits, tax reductions, production tax credits)?

Yes

Electricity grid access and dispatch

Does the country provide prioritized access to the grid for RE?

Do RE projects receive priority in dispatch?

Are there provisions to compensate seller if offtake infrastructure is not built in time?

Are there mechanisms to compensate RE projects for lost generation due to certain curtailments after project commissioning?

Is the compensation due because of curtailment actually given out?

Financial and regulatory support for transport

Are there any policies to encourage the transport sector to adopt cleaner (biofuel, electric, hydrogen) powered modes of transportation?

Are specific financial support measures designed to encourage the use of any of the following non-fossil fuel powered modes of transportation?

Electric/hybrid vehicles, including 2/3 wheel vehicles

Biofuels

Hydrogen vehicles

Electrification of public transportation

Are specific regulatory measures designed to encourage the use of any of the following non-fossil fuel powered modes of transportation?

Electric/hybrid vehicles, including 2/3 wheel vehicles

Biofuels

Hydrogen vehicles

Electrification of public transportation

Financial and regulatory support for Heating and Cooling

Are there any policies to encourage deployment of any renewable energy heating and cooling technologies?

Are there specific financial support measures designed to encourage the use of renewables in the heating and cooling sectors?

Are there specific regulatory measures designed to encourage the use of renewables in the heating and cooling sectors?

4Attributes of financial and regulatory incentives8

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Auctions

Is competition used to ensure large scale RE generation (projects>10MW) is cost competitive (e.g. through auctions for PPA's)? If so,

Is there a schedule for future bids/auctions available for investors?

Is there a pre-qualification process to select bidders?

Are tariffs indexed (in part or in whole) to an international currency or to inflation?

Are there provisions to ensure full and timely project completion (e.g. bid-bonds, project milestones)?

Are projects awarded through auctions/bids online/on track to be online on stated date?

Have auctions/bids met stated target for installations?

Fixed tariffs for small producers

Can small producers (residential, commercial rooftop PV,etc ) connect to the grid?

Are contracts with fixed tariffs available for such producers?

Is there a schedule or clear rules (e.g. capacity based limits) for adjusting the tariff level over time?

Are different tariffs available for different technologies and sizes of the generation plant?

Yes

Is there a mechanism to control the capacity built under each tariff?

Are tariffs indexed (in part of in whole) to an international currency or to inflation?

5Network connection and use6

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Connection and cost allocation

Does the country have a grid code that clearly specifies connection procedures?

Do the connection procedures meet international best practices?

Does the grid code include measures or standards addressing variable renewable energy?

Are there rules defining the allocation of connection costs?

What is the type of the connection cost allocation policy (i.e. shallow/deep)?

Shallow

Network usage and pricing

Are there rules that allow electricity customers to purchase power directly from a third party (i.e. an entity other than the designated utility in a service area)?

Do the rules define the size and allocation of costs for use of the transmission and distribution system (e.g. wheeling charges, locational pricing?)

Renewable grid integration

Does the country carry out regular assessments of the flexibility of the electricity grid and the issues relating to renewables integration?

Can renewable energy projects sell into balancing/ancillary services?

Are there rules for exchanging power between balancing areas that penalize variable renewable energy, e.g. through imbalance penalties? (only scored in countries with multiple balancing areas)

Are there provisions in the power exchange rules that allow for plant forecasting? (only scored in countries with multiple balancing areas)

Does the country integrate high quality forecasting for any variable RE resources (either through subscription service or provided by national agencies) into their dispatch operations?

Are dispatch operations being carried out in real time?

Yes

6Counterparty risk17

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Creditworthiness

Payment risk mitigation

If the counterparty is a special purpose entity, is it underwritten by a government guarantee or are there other mechanisms to ensure credit worthiness (e.g. through a letter of credit, escrow account, payment guarantee, or other)?

Are standard PPAs bankable?

Utility Transparency and Monitoring

Are the financial statements of the largest utility publicly available?

Generation

Yes

Transmission

Yes

Distribution

Yes

Retail sales

Yes

If yes, are they audited by an independent auditor?

Generation

Yes

Transmission

Yes

Distribution

Yes

Retail sales

Yes

Are the following metrics published in a primary official document (by the utility, regulator or ministry and/or government)?

Generation - Electricity available for sale to end-users

Transmission - Transmission loss rate

Distribution - Distribution loss rate

Retail Sales - Bill collection rate

Is the utility operating an incidence/outage recording system (or SCADA/EMS with such functionality)?

Is the utility measuring the SAIDI and SAIFI or any other measurements for service reliability?

Are the measurements reported to the regulatory body?

Are the measurements available to public?

7Carbon Pricing and Monitoring0

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Is there GHG emissions coverage under any carbon pricing mechanism?

Is there a monitoring, reporting and verification system for greenhouse gas emissions in place?

Indicators

1National energy efficiency planning47

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

National energy efficiency legislation/action planning

Is there legislation or a national action plan that aims to increase EE?

Is there an energy efficiency goal or target at the national level?

Sub-sectoral targets

Are there targets defined for any of the following sectors?

Residential sector

Commercial services sector

Transport sector

Industrial sector

Yes

Power sector

Yes

Scope of targets

Are targets derived from detailed analysis that is publicly available?

Yes

Is there a requirement for periodic progress reports tracking data related to the efficiency target(s)?

Yes

2Energy efficiency entities58

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Human Capital and Institutions

Are there governmental and/or independent bodies that carry out the roles listed below

Setting EE strategy

Yes

Setting EE standards

Yes

Regulating EE activities of energy consumers

Yes

Certifying compliance with equipment EE standards

Certifying compliance with building EE standards

Yes

Selecting and/or approving third-party auditors tasked with certifying EE standards

Are energy efficiency programs developed based on market analysis with plans open to public consultation and periodic evaluation?

Are there professional certification/accreditation programs mandated for energy efficiency activities? Select all that apply

Energy auditing/energy management

Monitoring and verification of energy consumption/savings

Yes

Building energy efficiency construction/design

Yes

Other

3Incentives & mandates: Industrial and Commercial End users0

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Mandates for large consumers

Are there any of the following energy-efficiency mandates for large energy users?

Targets (e.g. kWh savings or lower energy intensity or carbon dioxide reductions, etc.)

Mandatory audits

Energy-management system (computer technologies to optimize energy use)

Energy Manager in the facility

Are there penalties in place for non-compliance with EE programs for large energy users?

Is there a requirement for periodic reporting of energy consumption in order to enforce and/or track progress of energy efficiency in large consumers' facilities?

Is there a measurement and verification program in place?

Incentives for commercial and industrial consumers

Is there a program to publicly recognize end users who have achieved significant energy savings measures?

Are there awareness programs or publicized case study examples of significant energy savings measures?

Does the program offer technical assistance (from a government or independent entity) to end users to identify energy savings investment opportunities?

Is there an energy efficiency mandate or incentive program for SMEs?

4Incentives & mandates: Public sector50

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Obligations for public infrastructure

Are there binding energy savings obligations for public buildings and/or other public facilities (may include water supply, wastewater services, municipal solid waste, street lighting, transportation, and heat supply)?

Yes

Tracking and enforcement of obligations

Is there a reporting mechanism to track and enforce energy savings in public sector facilities (either in-house or by a third party)?

Yes

Public procurement of energy efficiency products

Are there specific policies or mandated guidelines for public procurement of energy-efficient products and services on the following levels?

National level

Region/state/province level

Municipal/city/county level

Are there guidelines or tools to help identify energy-efficient options for procurement (eg: EE calculators, technical specifications, product rating catalogues)?

Ability to retain energy savings

Do public budgeting regulations and practices allow public entities to retain energy savings at the following levels? Tick all applicable levels

National level

Region/state/province level

Municipal/city/county level

5Incentives & mandates: Utilities18

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Utility EE Programs

Generation

Are utilities required to carry out energy efficiency activities in this area?

Are there penalties in place for non-compliance with EE requirements?

Transmission and distribution networks

Are utilities required to carry out energy efficiency activities in this area?

Are there penalties in place for non-compliance with EE requirements?

Demand-side management/demand-response

Are utilities required to carry out energy efficiency activities in this area?

Are there penalties in place for non-compliance with EE requirements?

Are any of the following mechanisms available for utilities to recover costs associated with or revenue lost from mandated energy efficiency activities:

Public budget financing

Consumer surcharge

Decoupling

Utility Consumer Pricing and Information

Are electricity tariffs cost-reflective?

Yes

Are any of the following time-of-use (TOU) rate structures applied to the residential sector, commercial services sector, and industrial sector?

Residential sector

Real-time pricing

Variable peak pricing

Critical peak pricing

Seasonal rate

Peak-time rebates and/or time of day tariffs

Commercial services sector

Real-time pricing

Variable peak pricing

Critical peak pricing

Seasonal rate

Peak-time rebates and/or time of day tariffs

Industrial sector

Real-time pricing

Variable peak pricing

Critical peak pricing

Seasonal rate

Peak-time rebates and/or time of day tariffs

Yes

Do customers receive a bill or report which compares them to other users in the same region and/or usage class?

Residential customers

Commercial customers

Industrial customers

Do customers receive a bill or report that shows their energy usage compared to previous bills or reports over time?

Residential customers

Commercial customers

Industrial customers

Which of the following charges do electricity customers pay in the commercial services sector and in the industrial sector?

Commercial services sector

Demand (kW)

Yes

Reactive power (kVAr)

Industrial sector

Demand (kW)

Reactive power (kVAr)

6Financing mechanisms for energy efficiency0

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Financing mechanisms available in each sector

Are any of the following financing mechanisms for energy efficiency activities available in the (R) residential sector, (C) commercial services sector, and (I) industrial sector?

Residential sector

Discounted "green" mortgages

On-bill financing/repayment

Credit lines and/or revolving funds with banks for energy efficiency activities

Energy services agreements (pay-for-performance contracts)

Green or energy efficiency bonds

Vendor credit and/or leasing for energy efficiency activities

Partial risk guarantees

Other

Commercial services sector

Discounted "green" mortgages

On-bill financing/repayment

Credit lines and/or revolving funds with banks for energy efficiency activities

Energy services agreements (pay-for-performance contracts)

Green or energy efficiency bonds

Vendor credit and/or leasing for energy efficiency activities

Partial risk guarantees

Other

Industrial sector

Discounted "green" mortgages

On-bill financing/repayment

Credit lines and/or revolving funds with banks for energy efficiency activities

Energy services agreements (pay-for-performance contracts)

Green or energy efficiency bonds

Vendor credit and/or leasing for energy efficiency activities

Partial risk guarantees

Other

How many financial and/or non-financial institutions offer financial products for energy efficiency investments in each sector?

Residential sector

Commercial sector

Industrial sector

7Minimum energy efficiency performance standards0

Sub Indicators

Yes/No

Feedback

Have minimum energy performance standards been adopted for?

Refrigerators

Heating, ventilation and/or air conditioning (HVAC)

Lighting equipment

Industrial electric motors

Other industrial equipment and/or domestic appliances

Light vehicles

Verification and penalties for non-compliance

Refrigerators

Are the standards mandatory?

Is there a requirement for periodic reporting to verify compliance with standards?