Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are planning to sign a memorandum of understanding on technical support for the development of the energy sector, Azernews reports.

The remarks were made during a meeting between Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov and EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso.

During the meeting, they also discussed the financial support for the expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor and the priorities of multifaceted cooperation on green energy.

"We had fruitful discussions with @OdileRenaud on the financial support for the expansion of the SGC and the priorities for our multifaceted cooperation on #GreenEnergy. The Ministry and EBRD are planning to sign an MoU on technical support for the development of the energy sector," Parviz Shahbazov wrote on his official Twitter page.

Noting the development of cooperation with the EBRD within the priorities of the global energy agenda, the minister stressed the importance of the bank’s participation in the expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor.

He mentioned that the signing of the memorandum of understanding between Azerbaijan and the EU on strategic partnership in the energy sector formed the basis of the project’s expansion. Parviz Shahbazov also underlined that more than 10 countries are interested in partnership with Azerbaijan in the natural gas supply.

“Financial support for the SGC is necessary in order to extract rich natural gas resources and transport them in larger volumes to European countries. Financing the Southern Gas Corridor will contribute to the energy transit. This will prevent a return to coal, which is the result of the energy crisis with the supply of more natural gas. At the same time, SGC resource sources will be diversified in the example of hydrogen transportation,” he said.

During the meeting, the bank's support for the development of the Garadagh Solar Power Plant and the Xizi-Absheron Wind Power Plant was highly appreciated. In this regard, the parties reviewed the progress of projects to support the holding of renewable energy auctions, the implementation of the necessary regulatory framework for small-scale renewable energy projects, and the activities of the Energy Regulatory Agency.

Furthermore, the steps to be taken within the cooperation on low-carbon solutions in the energy sector, on the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P) were discussed. It was noted that the plans for the creation of larger production capacities in the field of renewable energy in Azerbaijan and the implementation of 6,000MW projects in the Caspian Sea at the initial stage actualize the improvement of the network, and this is one of the main conditions for the future development of the renewable energy sector.

In her turn, the EBRD president said that investment opportunities for cooperation in the listed areas will be evaluated, noting the bank’s readiness to support the strengthening of the network.

EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso arrived on a working visit to Azerbaijan on September 12. It is planned that in Baku, Odile Renaud-Basso will hold a number of meetings with representatives of the country’s state agencies, will sign an agreement on the bank’s second green city project in Azerbaijan, and inaugurate a joint project with AZPROMO aimed at boosting the country’s telecommunications, media, and technology sectors.

Established in 1991, EBRD invests in projects that contribute to the transition to an open market economy, as well as the development of private and business activities.

The bank is a leading investor in Azerbaijan. To date, the EBRD has invested over €3 billion ($3.5bn) in 181 projects in Azerbaijan’s economy.

The country has been cooperating with EBRD since 1992 to achieve further economic development. One of the main priorities of EBRD in Azerbaijan is to support the local corporate sector with direct financing. EBRD continues to pursue investments in energy projects, especially where there is a gap to improve efficiency and energy security.

Azerbaijan is the largest recipient of the EBRD funds in the Caucasus, as well as one of the largest recipients of this organization’s funds in the CIS and Eastern Europe.

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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad

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