“The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), in cooperation with the Italian company “Italgas”, has started using the advanced “Picaro” technology to detect methane leaks and eliminate them.”
“Informe” reports that SOCAR Vice President Afgan Isayev stated this during his speech at the session “SOCAR’s progress in the field of decarbonization: problems and achievements” organized within the framework of COP29.
“We already use this technology in Baku. The pilot project covers 4,000 kilometers of gas pipelines, of which 850 kilometers have been tested so far. After Picaro detects leaks, our teams with special Picaro devices are sent to the leak sites to Identifying and eliminating them is just the beginning. We plan to apply smart meters and artificial intelligence technologies and are ready to share the progress made at next year’s COP30,” said A. Isayev.
According to him, SOCAR pays attention to improving the monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system. “Late last year, after reanalyzing our existing system, we concluded that it was not efficient and analytical enough. We recently selected, contracted and began implementing a new MRV system. It will be combined with our intelligence system artificial methane. to provide timely and accurate information for decision-making,” said A. Isayev.
He stressed that SOCAR has already detected around 1,100 leaks, which corresponds to the loss of about 100 million cubic meters of gas, within the framework of a comprehensive approach that includes the use of satellites, drones and ground devices (for example, cameras OGI). ). “To date 350 leaks have been eliminated and the company plans to increase this number to 400 in the coming months and completely eliminate the problem by the end of next year,” said the SOCAR vice president.
A. Isayev also noted that SOCAR is actively exploring opportunities for the development of low-carbon businesses: “We are considering two approaches: developing technologies and skills independently or cooperating with partners. Our choice will be aimed at accelerating the implementation of solutions of decarbonization.”
