Azerbaijan to create green energy corridor from Caspian Sea to EU

There are plans to create a green energy corridor from the Caspian Sea to the European Union, Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan Parviz Shahbazov said, speaking at the second annual summit on green hydrogen in the UAE, Azernews reports.

“Now we are planning to create a green energy corridor from the Caspian Sea to the European Union. At the same time, we have another important project that connects us with the countries of Central Asia. Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan have united to build another green energy corridor, where green hydrogen is one of the important components,” he said.

According to the minister, much remains to be done to ensure that hydrogen becomes a significant factor in the full transition to renewable energy.

“We also understand from what we are doing in our country to develop hydrogen that we need specific national strategies in this area, we need legal frameworks, regulatory support, and, of course, we need major investments in this area. It is also clear that competitive production and large infrastructure for production, storage, and transportation are needed,” Shahbazov noted.

He added that the production and use of hydrogen, as an important part of the green transition in the world, is one of the important elements of the strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and the European Union.

The minister noted that Azerbaijan has already included the issue of developing hydrogen production in various development strategy documents.

The main strategy for the socio-economic development of the country also includes the development of the hydrogen industry and its use both within the country and for export, the minister said.

He added that Azerbaijan has also declared a green energy zone in the recently liberated territories, where, among other things, hydrogen will be produced.

According to the minister, there is great potential in the Caspian Sea for energy production from wind, it amounts to about 157 GW, and this is a huge volume that is in demand in Azerbaijan, but greatly exceeds its needs.

Therefore, Azerbaijan is intensively cooperating with European countries to also produce, among other things, green hydrogen using wind energy, with the possibility of further exporting it to the European market, Shahbazov said.