Minister: Azerbaijan moves forward to discreet energy transition

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov has said that Azerbaijan is moving forward with confident steps in the direction of a smart and discreet energy transition.

He made the remarks while receiving the mission led by the World Bank Group regional director for infrastructure Charles Joseph Cormier, who is on a visit to Baku.

The minister emphasized that in this regard, the measures to become a country of green growth, which is defined by the head of state as one of the main criteria of socio-economic development, play an important role.

“As with the example of the Southern Gas Corridor project, with the use of offshore wind energy potential on the basis of our cooperation, we can export green energy to Europe in various forms and routes,” he said.

During the meeting, the parties stressed that one of the important directions of the World Bank’s multifaceted cooperation with Azerbaijan is energy and the Bank’s continuous support for energy projects of regional and international importance implemented by Azerbaijan.

Discussions were held on the roadmap for offshore wind energy production, the development of the electricity market in the country, energy efficiency, long-term energy and climate-related plans of Azerbaijan, as well as new cooperation opportunities.

The sides emphasized that all these areas covered the decarbonization process and aimed at reducing carbon emissions to 40 percent by 2050. At the same time, it was noted that the ongoing and planned renewable energy projects contribute to the global energy transition of the country at the national level and create new opportunities for the energy supply of the partners.

Moreover, the participants mentioned the importance of the Black Sea submarine power and digital connectivity project between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Romania for the transportation of “green” electricity in the future. It should be noted that the implementation of the project was considered in the context of cooperation with the World Bank.

The sides also exchanged views on each of the issues on the agenda of cooperation with the World Bank.

It should be noted that during the visit of the World Bank Mission on Energy and Infrastructure to Azerbaijan, discussions on the development of offshore wind energy, potential ways of decarbonization for the energy sector, planning and implementation of decarbonization, liberalization of the electricity market and energy efficiency are planned.