Baku, Tbilisi, Ankara, Sofia to make decision on new energy corridor's feasibility study by June

BAKU. April 7 (Interfax) - A decision on taking specific technical steps towards a green energy corridor between Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia and Bulgaria will be made by June, the Bulgarian Energy Ministry said in a statement.

"As a memorandum on the new energy corridor was signed in Baku on Friday, ministers from the four countries agreed on the immediate formation of a working group at the level of deputy ministers. Technicalities for launching feasibility studies are due to be ready by June. The initial investment will be directed at maximizing the efficiency the existent facilities," the ministry said.

According to the ministry, technical work on the project will begin next week. "Deputy ministers from respective agencies and representatives of energy operators are going to meet in Sofia and start working on a new energy corridor," it said.

As reported, the energy ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Bulgaria signed a memorandum on green energy cooperation on April 4, thus starting construction of the energy corridor.

According to the memorandum, the energy ministries of the four countries will promote stronger cooperation between public and private sectors to explore opportunities for modernizing energy systems and joint investment projects to expand power transmission capacities and trade. The memorandum envisages an improvement of energy infrastructure and measures to incentivize using renewable energy.