Siemens joins Black Sea Energy Corridor project

BAKU. Oct 7 (Interfax) - Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co. KG will participate in the Black Sea Energy project to laying a submarine cable to supply green energy from Azerbaijan to Georgia and then to Europe.

Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co. KG and Green Energy Corridor Power Company (GECO) signed a memorandum of understanding at the German-Azerbaijani Export and Finance Conference in Baku, an Interfax correspondent reported.

The memorandum provides for cooperation in the field of green energy transportation using high-voltage direct current (HVDC) technology. No more details were disclosed.

Azerbaijan's deputy energy minister, Orkhan Zeynalov, has said the Black Sea Energy project should go into service in 2032. He said Azerbaijan planned to export up to 4 GW via the corridor in a phased approach - 1.3 GW, 1.3 GW, 1.3 GW - though an HVDC cable to Georgia and subsea cable to Romania and entering Hungary.

Azerbaijan, Romania, Georgia and Hungary signed an agreement in December 2022 on strategic partnership in the construction of the Black Sea Energy submarine cable. Bulgaria announced its intention to join the project in 2023. In the same year, the Bulgarian government greenlit the acquisition by Bulgarian Energy Holding EAD of a stake in the joint venture for the project.

Romanian power grid operator Transelectrica, Azerbaijan's Azerenerji, Georgian State Electrosystem (GSE) and Hungary's MVM signed a memorandum in May 2024 and a shareholder agreement to form the GECO Power Company joint venture to deliver the project in September. The joint venture was formed to deliver the project in Bucharest this year.

Laying the cable will take three or four years. The European Commission plans to provide 2.3 billion euros for the project.