2024-03-06 11:38:19
Trend International Information Agency published an analysis “Azerbaijan’s uniqueness: transition from oil and gas power to green leadership”, dedicated to Azerbaijan’s strategy from the point of view of the “green transition” and the transformation of the country’s export economic model from oil and gas to “green” energy.
Day.Az presents a translation of the original AMI Trend material into Russian:
People around the world are beginning to understand that the future of our economies and the planet depends on the adoption of environmentally friendly practices. Last year, global growth in CO2 emissions was much slower than economic growth. This is largely due to the fact that we are leaning more towards clean energy. And Azerbaijan, a country that has relied on oil and gas resources for many years, is now showing how to make this transition to a green economy.
Only a few years have passed since Azerbaijan began to widely implement green technologies throughout the country. Vast areas, such as the economic regions of Karabakh and Zangezur, have been declared clean energy zones. The country is already demonstrating impressive achievements in this area. And Azerbaijan does all this while maintaining obligations to its partners, providing gas to almost a third of Europe.
In his interview with Euronews, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev rightly noted that it is countries with oil and gas resources, such as Azerbaijan, that should lead the trend of transition to a green economy.
“I think this is part of our overall green agenda and our sense of responsibility that a fossil fuel-rich country should be at the forefront of countries in the process of transition to green energy. We are not doing this because we are not There are enough traditional resources, but because we want to make a contribution using financing, using the revenues we receive from the sale of oil and gas to invest in renewable energy sources and create a common understanding of their need,” the head of state said.
By hosting COP29 this year, Azerbaijan has a chance to, firstly, prove that the country has earned the trust of other countries by hosting this large-scale global event, and secondly, share its successfully implemented strategy with everyone.
The energy landscape of Europe is changing at lightning speed, thanks in part to Azerbaijan. It is safe to say that the implementation of such large-scale projects in such a short period of time is very rare. And we are, of course, talking about the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project.
On March 1, the 10th ministerial meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor was held in Baku, which was attended by leading energy companies, heads of energy departments from major European countries, partners from Central Asia, the Arab world and many others. They gathered around the same table to receive information about Azerbaijan’s innovations and successes in the energy sector from the main initiator of the Southern Gas Corridor project, President Ilham Aliyev.
“The current geopolitical situation in Eurasia clearly proves that this is exactly how we should have done everything. In the case of Azerbaijan, the Southern Gas Corridor is a completely new route. Now it has many extensions and interconnectors, and Azerbaijani gas is a new source. Thus “We see the full implementation of energy diversification issues in this format and in the project we initiated,” the head of state said in an address to the meeting participants.
All those present at the meeting did not hold back their words of gratitude to Azerbaijan, highly appreciating the country’s significant contribution to the energy security of the region. European Commissioner Kadri Simson made it clear that when it comes to reliable supplies of natural gas, Europe can count on Azerbaijan. She noted that since the Southern Gas Corridor began supplying gas just over three years ago, exports have doubled. In 2023 alone, Azerbaijan supplied more than 11 billion cubic meters of gas to European countries.
Representatives from Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Italy, Slovenia, Georgia and Turkey, among many others, confirmed their commitment to advancing the SGC project. They are determined to increase the supply of natural gas from Azerbaijan, emphasizing their strong support for the further development of the project. They are also doing a commendable job on their end. For example, Greece is working to expand the capacity of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, the European section of the SGC. The country is launching new projects to modernize its export infrastructure, such as a liquefied natural gas plant in Alexandroupolis and pipelines connecting Bulgaria and North Macedonia. Another example is Serbia, which aims to triple imports of Azerbaijani gas in the coming years thanks to the Serbia-Bulgaria interconnector commissioned at the end of 2023.
For those who believe that the Caspian does not have enough resources to significantly increase supplies, Baku has a worthy answer. Starting from the first quarter of next year, natural gas production will begin within the framework of a deepwater project in the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli block. At the initial stage, about half a billion cubic meters are expected, but over the next few years this figure could increase by about five times. This will be an additional source of gas along with the Shah Deniz and Absheron fields. Azerbaijan is also preparing for the second phase of development of the Umid gas condensate field, possibly adding two to three billion cubic meters over the next three to four years. In addition, there are proposals from several foreign investors to start pumping from the Umid, Babek, Shafag, Asiman and Karabakh oil and gas condensate fields.
In addition, as part of the event, the second ministerial meeting of the Green Energy Advisory Council was held. Azerbaijan’s renewable energy projects have shown impressive progress. After the last meeting in Baku in February 2023, Azerbaijan unveiled its first large solar power plant in October, a 230 MW project with renewable energy giant Masdar. This milestone marks only the beginning of Azerbaijan’s journey to develop renewable energy sources. According to signed contracts and memorandums of understanding, the country aims to commission up to 5 GW of solar and wind energy by 2030.
As a result of yesterday’s meeting, several promising contracts were concluded, for example, a memorandum with WindEurope concluding a deal with Nobel Energy to build a 100 MW solar power plant and with Elecnor for a 70 MW wind power project.
The development of green energy is an important part of the fight against climate change. In this context, Azerbaijan, which will host COP29 this year, will have the opportunity to demonstrate how a country traditionally tied to oil and gas resources can change its agenda. All those present at the event also unanimously expressed their support for Azerbaijan in hosting COP29.
“We have to change our thinking about this a little bit because it’s not our fault that we are a fossil fuel country. I think it’s our credit that we’ve managed to avoid the so-called oil curse that many countries have faced.” with oil and gas reserves. We have turned oil into development. We have managed to ensure a fair distribution of wealth. Over the past twenty years, we have reduced the poverty rate in Azerbaijan from 50% to 5%. And everything you see here in Baku is absolutely new infrastructure development and improvement of people’s living conditions. Unfortunately, today fossil fuels are presented as something dangerous, bad, and the countries that have these resources should be held to blame for this. My message was this: let us evaluate our actions by how we handle these resources, how we use revenues to meet people’s needs and stimulate the green agenda,” said President Ilham Aliyev.
Indeed, Baku sets itself ambitious, but quite achievable goals, given that the country has all the necessary conditions for the development of green energy. Solar and wind power plants have already been built, and their construction continues, and work is also underway to create capacities for the production and export of green energy, including hydrogen. Thus, as Azerbaijan hosts COP29 this year, it should be a shining example of the successful combination of traditional and renewable energy sources. This kind of example is of paramount importance for countries with rich oil and gas resources.