Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov has said that more than 12.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas have been transported via TANAP and TAP pipelines so far.

He made the remarks during the conference "Model of Azerbaijan's development: yesterday, today and tomorrow", Trend reported.

Shahbazov stated that about 545 million tons of oil have been produced since the commissioning of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli block of fields. He added that so far, about $155 billion has been received from the sale of gas from the ACG block of fields.

At the same time, the minister stated that the 140 MW Khudafarin and Giz Galasi hydroelectric power plants will be built on the Azerbaijani liberated territories within the next two-three years. He added that the region will turn into a "green energy" region thanks to these hydropower plants.

“One of our main priorities is the implementation of a number of big projects on the liberated Azerbaijani territories through foreign investments,” he said.

He mentioned that the first example of foreign green investments in these spheres is cooperation with BP on a 240-MW solar power plant.

“Another project with foreign investments is planned to be implemented in Kalbajar and Lachin regions. A document requesting information was sent for investors to reveal interest in a 100 MW wind power project,” he said.

The minister added that the corresponding work is also underway to use the hydropower on the liberated territories.

It should be noted that Azerbaijan is taking measures to develop renewable energy resources on its territories liberated from Armenia's occupation in 2020 and to turn the Karabakh region into the “green energy zone”. In this regard, the Energy Ministry and BP have signed an Implementation agreement to build a 240MW solar power plant in liberated Zangilan and Jabrayil regions.

TANAP is the central part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which connects the giant Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan to Europe through the South Caucasus Pipeline and TAP. The pipeline has strategic importance as it allows the Azerbaijani gas exports to Europe. The capacity of the pipeline is planned to be increased up to 23 billion cubic meters by 2023, 31 billion cubic meters by 2026, and at the final stage 60 billion cubic meters.

TAP is part of the Southern Gas Corridor and is a pipeline project to transport natural gas, starting from Greece via Albania and the Adriatic Sea to Italy and further to Western Europe. The pipeline is supplied by natural gas from the second stage of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz gas field development in the Azerbaijani section of the Caspian Sea through the South Caucasus Pipeline and TANAP. The initial capacity of the pipeline is about 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, with the option to expand the capacity up to 20 billion cubic meters.

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

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