(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Elnur Enveroglu Read more
It is no coincidence that Azerbaijan has become an energy giantof the 20th century among the countries in the South Caucasus at the cooperation between Azerbaijan and Europeancountries in the field of oil and gas from the end of the 20thcentury until now, it was quite transparent and possible to see thefuture prospects, which are coming true now.
In our age of technology, the value of time has started to beconsidered from a number of aspects. Rapid response to globalchallenges and changes and transition to a diversified economy byexploring new energy resources in a short period of time.
Although oil and gas are considered the main backbone ofAzerbaijan's economy, Azerbaijan, which can react flexibly to thedemands of the time, was able to take a number of important stepsin the mentioned direction. The addition of green energy to thecountry's economy as an alternative can be considered one of thelatest achievements.
Today, the transition to "green energy" is one of the maindirections of the energy policy of the state of Azerbaijan. One ofthe main goals of reforms in the energy sector is to graduallyincrease the share of energy obtained from "green energy" sourcesin the country's energy balance. Thus, Azerbaijan activelycooperates with international organizations, various countries andinvestors in this field.
The 500MW renewable energy joint project of giant energycompanies such as ACWA Power of Saudi Arabia and Masdar of AbuDhabi with Azerbaijan's SOCAR was one of the most successful stepsof the last year.
ACWA Power entered the Azerbaijan market in 2019, with theintention of supporting the Central Asian nation in meeting itsambitious renewables integration, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissionsreduction, and decarbonisation targets.
ACWA Power is currently developing a 240MW wind power plant inAzerbaijan, at an investment value of US$286 million. Meanwhile,four implementation agreements for mega giga projects including a1GW onshore, a 1.5GW offshore wind farm and a battery energystorage project were signed earlier this year with the AzeriMinistry of Energy, while a cooperation agreement with State OilCompany of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) will enable collaborationand exploration in the fields of renewable energy and greenhydrogen.
Moreover, Masdar has been active in Azerbaijan since 2020 anddeveloped the 230MW Garadagh solar plant, which become operationalin October this year. The UAE's clean energy pioneer has alsosigned agreements to develop onshore wind and solar projects andintegrated offshore wind and green hydrogen projects with a totalcombined capacity of 4GW in the country. Masdar and Azerbaijan haveagreed on an option to expand the total capacity for renewableprojects to 10GW across multiple technologies.
On the other hand, Azerbaijan's cooperation with Europe in thefield of energy can be emphasized.
Two days ago, President Ilham Aliyev's meeting with Romania'sEnergy Minister Sebastian-Ioan Burduja in Baku was dedicated to thediscussion on energy and the expansion of cooperation in manyfields.
The President of Azerbaijan underlined that bilateral relationsare in the stage of active development and stressed the importanceof reciprocal visits between heads of state and at other levels toenhance bilateral ties.
Touching upon the importance of the 8th meeting of the JointCommission on economic-trade relations and scientific-technicalcooperation between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijanand the Government of Romania in Baku in terms of defining theprospects for bilateral bonds, President Ilham Aliyev hailed theinclusion of energy and other pertinent issues in the meeting'sagenda.
During the meeting, President Ilham Aliyev highlighted the majorprojects underway in Azerbaijan's energy sector, particularly ingreen energy, and emphasized the significance of the 10th SouthernGas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting and the 2nd GreenEnergy Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting held in Baku lastmonth.
Further to the discussions between the President of Azerbaijanand the Romanian Energy Minister, both sides underscoredsignificant advancements in the energy sector and shared opinionson natural gas exports from Azerbaijan and the export of greenenergy to Romania via the Black Sea. They acknowledged ongoingdiscussions surrounding LNG, green energy and gas supply projects,with Azerbaijan aiming for a structured entry into the Romanianenergy market.
Economic and trade relations between the two countries werehighlighted at the meeting, with an emphasis placed on a 30 percentyear-on-year increase in trade turnover, amounting to 670 millionUS dollars. Cooperation concerning investments was also noted. Theytouched upon SOCAR's active presence in Romania and its substantialrole in the country's fuel market.
Thus, the transition to green energy in Azerbaijan has becomethe main segment of both domestic and foreign policy ofAzerbaijan.
In addition to all this, relevant normative legal acts areadopted in the country and institutional measures are implementedfor the development of the "Green energy" industry.
In general, the transition to green energy plays an importantrole in solving global environmental problems for Azerbaijan. Thisis of great importance in ensuring the sustainability of theecosystem and the balance between human needs and nature'scapabilities.
It is no coincidence that Azerbaijan, which has taken importantsteps in this field, is also preparing to host COP29. Holding sucha global event in Azerbaijan is also a clear example of thecountry's joint support for steps taken to prevent climate changeand global warming.
Because green energy production occupies a special place inensuring energy security for Azerbaijan. Also, the strengthening ofproduction encourages the development of new technologies andinnovations.
The Republic of Azerbaijan has a favorable green energypotential from a geographical point of view, and a purposeful statepolicy is carried out in order to use it efficiently. Undoubtedly,Azerbaijan is ready to make even more efforts to successfullyfulfill its commitment by 2040.
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