EU should lift embargo on funding fossil fuel projects - Azerbaijani president
BAKU. April 10 (Interfax) - The European Union should lift the embargo on funding fossil fuel projects, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.
"Five days ago, we had the 11th Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor and the third Advisory Council on Green Energy, which was held in Baku [...] I raised two important issues, which must be addressed by European financial institutions and European Commission if they want to continue to receive large volumes of gas and to increase the gas supply from Azerbaijan," Aliyev said at a meeting with participants in the Facing the New World Order international forum in Baku on Wednesday.
A meeting report was published on the Azerbaijani presidential website on Thursday.
The first issue is the policy of financial institutions, Aliyev said, adding that Azerbaijan now has more gas for export.
"We will have several billion cubic meters of gas just because we will install green energy power plants that will save us the gas, which today we use to produce electricity. So all that roughly increases our potential gas supply by a minimum of 10 billion cubic meters," Aliyev said.
The Southern Gas Corridor, which transports Azerbaijani gas to Europe, "is fully packed" and needs to be broadened "with borrowed money and with corporate money," he said.
"But here we come to the point that the European Investment Bank, EIB, stopped completely financing fossil fuel projects. It is a strategy, and we all know that the European Investment Bank is well-integrated with the European Commission. The EBRD, though officially, did not close fossil fuel chapter, but keeps it at a very marginal share. [...] So this is number one. This embargo on fossil fuel financing must be lifted. Well, they need just to look at what [U.S.] President Trump is doing on fossil fuel and not to be late," Aliyev said.
Another important factor is long-term contracts, he said.
"When the European Union says that in 2050, they will be carbon neutral, and then they ask me to invest money and to produce more gas. Where that gas will go? If you do not get it from us, then why should I invest or why should I look at your market as my main market? [...] we should not only look to the West, we can look to the East, to the South. This is important for the future development of Azerbaijan's gas industry, and for energy security of Europe," Aliyev said.
Baku is aware of European energy-security problems and is supplying gas to 12 countries, including ten European countries, including eight EU member states, he said.
Azerbaijan contributes to the gasification of Albania and is considering a gasification project in Albania, he said. There are other energy projects related to EU member states, Aliyev said.
