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Talib Alikhanbayov

Chairman, ATEF Group

Until recently, Azerbaijan has been known as an oil and gas producer and exporter and as an agricultural country. Of late, Azerbaijan’s high-tech equipment in the energy sector has been gaining a worldwide reputation. The Azerbaijani government pays special attention to the development of the non-oil and gas sector, and at the same time facilitates the production and export of domestically produced products. We are expanding our production and we are now finishing our fifth plant, a state-of-the-art facility where the production of large power transformers up to 500 MVA with voltages of 220-500 kVa will take place. The factory is equipped with the high-tech machinery of leading manufacturers such as GEORG, Hedrich (Germany), Sagma (Italy), and Highvolt (Switzerland). We will gear the production at this plant toward larger markets, and at the same time boost the country’s demand for strategic goods. We import raw materials from the UK, the EU, the US, Turkey, Russia, and Kazakhstan. For example, we import H1-grade magnetic steel from AK STEEL (US), which is high-grade steel produced at very few facilities in the world. It is a major component of transformers, and thus quality manufacturing is of the essence. Good quality comes at a premium, but for us there is no option but the best available. The main goal of ATEF Group is to get good market shares in places such as the UK, Europe, and the US.

Çağatay Deliktaş

General Manger, Hilal Elektrik

Hilal Elektrik has excellent electrical and mechanical engineers, especially when it comes to major projects. We have 75 employees, and 25 of them focus on our service project business. Some of the projects that we are working on are with Azer Electric and Azersu. We discussed the need for more generators and regulators, which we would install and maintain, for a project with Azer Electric. Our spare parts come from Turkey, from which we receive trucks every week. Owing to this, our transfer of spare equipment parts is efficient. In regard to branding, the customers decide which brands and products we work with. Our employees may introduce a brand, but customers will ask for another brand instead. We then do our research about who is distributing this brand in Turkey and other countries. Customers who have visited China found a specific brand of lighting equipment and requested it be brought to this market. We are continuously expanding the list of brands we distribute. Nowadays, a large number of Spanish companies visit us for heating systems and cables. We are seeing a market in Spain for outdoor heating, because people now smoke outside in the garden, and, therefore, need a special heating system.

Emrah Tekdemir

Caucasus Area President, Emrah Tekdemir

As a global specialist in energy management with operations in more than 100 countries, Schneider Electric offers integrated solutions across multiple market segments. Schneider Electric is involved in all the stages of the chain between the power plant to the switches and sockets in homes or offices, with solutions including hardware, software, as well as services. This means we are active in all markets, from public utilities to buildings, infrastructure, industry, retail, residential, and IT. We are working closely with the local authorities that know us through the numerous seminars we have given in Azerbaijan and abroad. Our clients are aware of the energy efficiency challenge and are willing to cooperate with us on many projects. One example is the Gobustan Alternative Energy Polygon Project developed by the Agency for Renewable Energy. This project aims at demonstrating how small- and medium-sized renewable energy generation such as wind, solar, and biomass can be effectively integrated into the power network of the Gobustan region, thus meeting a great part of the local demand, while being connected to the national grid thanks to the smart grid solutions developed by Schneider Electric. Another example is our cooperation with utilities and design institutes to contribute to the design of more efficient solutions for industries and homes.

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