(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Sabina Mammadli read more The 9th Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial
Meeting and 1st Green Energy Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting
are underway at Baku's Gulustan Palace, Azernews reports per
Azartac.
High-ranking officials, top ministers, and representatives of
international energy companies are in Baku to attend the event.
European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson, senior officials
of Turkiye, Italy, the USA, Britain, Georgia, Hungary, Romania,
Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine,
and Croatia are attending the meeting.
Energy companies such as SOCAR, BP, BOTAŞ, TANAP, TAP, TPAO,
TAQA, Bulgargaz EAD, Bulgartransgaz, ICGB, Fluxys, ROMGAZ SA, SACE,
Desfa, TotalEnergies, FGSZ Ltd, SNAM, Uniper, Petronas, ACWA Power,
Masdar, Fortescue, Future Industries, WindEurope, SolarPower
Europe, as well as financial structures such as the World Bank, the
International Finance Corporation, the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, the Asian
Infrastructure and Investment Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and
others, are also present at the meeting.
The opening session is followed by plenary sessions on the
topics“Southern Gas Corridor and Ministerial Session on Green
Energy”,“Southern Gas Corridor: Expanding Affordable, Stable and
Secure Natural Gas Supplies” and“Green Energy: Supplying Caspian
Sea Wind Power to European Energy Markets”.
In addition, within the framework of the Advisory Council, it is
planned to hold the first meeting of the Steering Committee for the
implementation of the 'Agreement on strategic partnership in the
field of development and transmission of green energy between the
governments of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, and Hungary'.
A press conference will be held at the end of the meetings.
Addressing the opening session, President Ilham Aliyev talked
about energy security, noting that Azerbaijan has held a number of
events committed to it, proving its dedication to the topic.
The president shared Azerbaijan's plans in terms of gas import,
saying that the country will shortly supply gas to Romania, noting
that doubling gas supplies to Europe by 2027 is doable.
“The Southern Gas Corridor was inaugurated only something more
than two years ago, but already today we talk about the expansion
of TANAP from 16 to 32 billion cubic meters and expansion of TAP
from 10 to 20,” the president said.
He added that this demonstrates the big need for an alternative
source of energy and for continued diversification of energy
supplies, which the country is ready for.
Talking about last year's milestones, President Aliyev
highlighted the important document, signed in Baku between European
Commission President Madame Ursula von der Leyen and himself on
strategic partnership in the field of energy. He noted that the
document 'is a clear roadmap for our future plans'.
To note, the first Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas
Corridor Advisory Council was held on February 12, 2015, the second
meeting on February 29, 2016, the third meeting on February 23,
2017, the fourth on February 15, 2018, the fifth on February 20,
2019, the sixth on February 28, 2020, the meeting on February 11,
2021, and the eighth on February 4, 2022.
With the completion of the TAP (Trans-Adriatic Pipeline)
construction on December 31, 2020, Azerbaijan began commercial gas
supplies to Europe via the Southern Gas Corridor. The SGC is an
initiative of the European Commission for a natural gas supply
route from the Caspian and Middle Eastern regions to Europe. The
route from Azerbaijan to Europe consists of the South Caucasus
Pipeline, TANAP, and TAP.
In 2023, Azerbaijan plans to increase gas supplies to Europe to
11bn cu.m. As of 2022, Azerbaijan has exported 9.3 billion cubic
meters of gas to Europe in the first 10 months and is expected to
supply 11.5bn cu. m. of gas to Europe by the end of the year.
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Sabina Mammadli is AzerNews' staff journalist, follow her on
Twitter: @sabinammdl