(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Fatima Hasanova read more By Leyla Tariverdiyeva
Azerbaijan's popular Russian language news website Day.Az
carries an article by journalist Leyla Tariverdiyeva. The original
article can be found at the link below :
Azerbaijan continues to expand its influence and strengthen
relations with the Arab world. President Ilham Aliyev spoke from
the rostrum of the Arab League summit in November 2022, discussing
cooperation with member countries and prospects. Representative
delegations from Saudi Arabia visited the Azerbaijani capital in
December 2022 and January 2023. Baku maintains contacts with many
Arab countries, but Azerbaijan has particularly warm relations with
the United Arab Emirates.
President Ilham Aliyev paid a working visit to the UAE on
January 15-16. The Azerbaijani leader met with UAE President Sheikh
Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the first day of his visit, and the
next day he spoke at the start of the Abu Dhabi Sustainable
Development Week ADSW-2023. As the leader of a country that
maintains strong and dynamically developing ties with the Emirates
and knows a lot about the principles of sustainable development and
their application, the president of Azerbaijan attended this
prestigious event as a guest of honor.
The Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2023 is a global
initiative that the UAE has been promoting since 2008. The ADSW is
a highly authoritative event that draws the attention of the
world's largest states and corporations. This is the fifteenth week
in a row. As before, the event is being held under the patronage of
the UAE president and is being organized by the energy company
Masdar.
This week's catchphrase is 'United Action to Combat Climate
Change Towards COP28'. Presidents, politicians, leaders of the
energy industry, investors, and entrepreneurs are taking part in
the discussions. During the Sustainable Development Week in Abu
Dhabi, the most pressing and topical issues related to the problems
of climate change and the fight against this phenomenon are raised.
The UAE has already made some contributions to this process, as
exemplified by Masdar, a renewable energy company and one of the
largest in the world in this sector.
By signing a number of documents on the fringes of the
Sustainable Development Week in Abu Dhabi 2023, Azerbaijan and the
Emirates' cooperation in the use of renewable energy sources has
advanced and been enriched with new agreements on bilateral
cooperation in this sector.
How Azerbaijan and the UAE's relations have advanced to a new
level.
Speaking at the Week in Abu Dhabi, President Ilham Aliyev called
the United Arab Emirates one of the most stable, developed, and
successful countries in the world.
'I want to congratulate the president and the people of the
United Arab Emirates on their great achievements and rapid
development. Mr. President, under your leadership, the United Arab
Emirates has become one of the most stable, developed, and
successful countries in the world. We, like your brothers in
Azerbaijan, are very proud of what you are doing,' the Azerbaijani
president said.
It should be noted that on the eve of the opening of the forum
in Abu Dhabi, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met with President
of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. It
is well known that the two leaders maintain warm and friendly
relations. This is a very important factor for sincerity and a
desire to support each other's interests to reign in interstate
relations as well. At a meeting with Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan,
President Ilham Aliyev recalled the support provided by the
Emirates to Azerbaijan during the debate on the South Caucasus
region in the UN Security Council. This support is highly
appreciated in Baku and is considered an example of friendship and
brotherhood. The countries are distinguished by peacefulness, and
together they make conditions for ensuring peace, stability, and
security in the region. Azerbaijan and the UAE are linked not only
by economic projects but enjoy well-established ties in politics,
security, etc. At the meeting, Ilham Aliyev invited Mohammed bin
Zayed Al Nahyan to visit Azerbaijan, and the invitation was
gratefully accepted.
In terms of economic cooperation, Azerbaijan is currently
working closely with Masdar, one of the world's largest energy
companies. The company has been in Azerbaijan for a number of
years. The construction of the Garadagh solar power plant began in
March 2022 under the agreement signed at the beginning of 2021. The
day before, in Abu Dhabi, this company and the State Oil Company of
the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) signed an agreement for the
production of 4GW of wind and solar energy. The capacity of the
projects will be increased to 10GW in the future.
This, President Ilham Aliyev believes it is entirely feasible.
Azerbaijan has a roadmap in this regard, according to the
president's speech at the Sustainable Development Week in Abu
Dhabi. As a result of this project alone, the country's cooperation
with Masdar will turn Azerbaijan into a very important source of
green energy. In general, according to the President, memorandums
of understanding and agreements signed by Azerbaijan with
international energy companies will create an opportunity to
produce up to 22 GW of wind and solar energy. As for the potential,
on land, it is 27 GW of wind and solar energy, in the liberated
territories - 10 GW, while in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian
Sea, the potential of wind energy is very high - 157 GW.
The president stressed that Azerbaijan is developing renewable
energy sources to ensure its own energy security. This issue has
already been settled. Azerbaijan's internal needs are now fully
met. The renewable energy program is being developed in the
country, firstly, because this industry has huge potential, and,
secondly, because it will help the country diversify exports. And,
of course, in this way, a new environmentally friendly sector of
the economy is being created.
Azerbaijan currently exports crude oil, oil products, natural
gas, petrochemicals, and electricity. Just two years ago, the
Southern Gas Corridor was completed, a 3,500 km integrated pipeline
system that already supplies gas to Europe. From January 1 of this
year, Romania also began to receive Azerbaijani gas. In 2022,
Azerbaijan exported 19 billion cubic meters of gas through the
Southern Gas Corridor, this year our country's partners will
receive 24 billion cubic meters.
Electricity is one of the export items that Azerbaijan currently
exports to neighboring countries. Additionally, on December 17, a
four-party agreement was signed in Bucharest regarding the laying
of an electric cable along the Black Sea's bottom from Georgia's
Black Sea coast to Romania's Black Sea coast. Through this
transmission line, Azerbaijani electricity will also go to Europe.
As the president noted in his speech at the Week in Abu Dhabi, the
plan is to build a cable that will allow us to transport 4 GW of
green energy from Azerbaijan. But these are already agreed volumes,
and the possibilities and plans can be wider.
'The investment environment in Azerbaijan is very positive. We
have attracted large investments in the oil and gas sector. And now
our goal is renewable energy. In other words, we have big plans,
and I am sure that we will cope with the work,' President Ilham
Aliyev noted.
Since the cost of light sources in the energy sector is quite
high, Azerbaijan is moving cautiously and slowly in this direction.
By 2030, it is planned to increase the share of renewable energy in
the total volume of energy produced in the country to 30 percent.
Today's pace allows us to achieve such a result. Especially, in the
presence of such partners as the Emirate's Masdar.
As previously mentioned, SOCAR and Masdar signed agreements in
Abu Dhabi on January 15, 2023, as part of the working visit of the
Azerbaijani president to the UAE. These agreements pertain to the
joint development of projects for offshore wind energy (2 GW) and
the creation of green hydrogen, as well as the joint development of
projects for solar energy (1 GW) and onshore wind energy (1 GW).
These agreements will contribute to the reduction in greenhouse gas
emissions in the atmosphere in Azerbaijan, the development of
renewable energy sources, and the sustainable economic growth of
the country.
During the special session 'The Path to Zero Emissions:
Potential and Opportunities of Green Energy in Karabakh Region,'
held in Shusha as part of Baku Energy Week, in June 2022, a
memorandum of understanding was signed between SOCAR and Masdar. It
was stated that the UAE-based company is seeking to expand its
presence in Azerbaijan in the solar and wind energy sectors, as
well as in the production of green hydrogen and other renewable
energy sources.
The first contact between Azerbaijan and Masdar was made in
2018. The country's Ministry of Energy spoke more specifically
about the possibilities of cooperation in 2019, and an agreement on
the Garadagh solar power plant project with an installed capacity
of 230 megawatts was signed in January 2020. In April 2021, the
Ministry of Energy, Azerenergy OJSC, and Masdar signed an
Investment Agreement, an Energy Purchase and Sale Agreement, and an
Agreement for Connecting to the Transmission Grid for the
Construction of a Solar Power Plant in Garadagh.
On March 15, Baku witnessed the groundbreaking ceremony for the
Garadagh solar power plant. On the eve of the ceremony, Azerbaijan
and Masdar signed four memorandums of understanding on cooperation
in the field of renewable energy sources production. These are
memorandums on mutual understanding and cooperation in the fields
of integrated renewable energy at sea; renewable energy sources and
energy efficiency; electricity generation from municipal solid
waste; and mutual understanding and cooperation in the fields of
renewable and clean energy in the Karabakh and East Zangazur
economic regions.
Considering the level of ties between Azerbaijan and the UAE,
their shared desire to deepen ties, and the friendship between
their leaders, it is reasonable to assume that Baku and Abu Dhabi
will look beyond the energy sector. Both countries have significant
potential, which allows for greater cooperation. This is
unquestionably advantageous for both Azerbaijan and the UAE.
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