Turkey ready to join Caspian-Black Sea-Europe energy corridor project - minister
BAKU. Sept 11 (Interfax) - Turkey intends to join the Caspian -Black Sea-Europe energy corridor or Black Sea Energy project, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said.
"This project is a major interconnector program that will extend from Azerbaijan and Georgia beneath the Black Sea to Romania and Hungary. At Azerbaijan's invitation, Turkey has also expressed its intention to participate in and support this project," he said in an interview with Azerbaijan's Trend news agency.
Bayraktar said energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey had entered a new stage in electricity and renewable energy, and that three key projects were currently in focus.
"The first project envisages integrating Nakhchivan's electricity grid with Turkey and exchanging electricity between the two sides. In the future, this line could also be connected to mainland Azerbaijan through the Zangezur Corridor," the minister said.
The second initiative is a quadrilateral electricity corridor linking Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Bulgaria. "This is an important green energy project involving four countries. The project will enable electricity generated by Azerbaijan to reach European markets via Georgia, Turkey and then Bulgaria," Bayraktar said.
The third major project is the undersea electricity cable planned to run beneath the Black Sea.
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 to deliver the project was formed in Bucharest last year. Laying the cable will take three or four years. The European Commission plans to provide 2.3 billion euros for the 3.5 billion euro project.
In April 2025, the energy ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, and Bulgaria signed a memorandum on cooperation in the field of green energy, thereby launching the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey-Bulgaria energy corridor project. This corridor is expected to supply green electricity from the Caspian region to Southeastern Europe - Bulgaria, as well as Romania and Hungary.
The Azerbaijan-Turkey green energy corridor project consists of two phases. The first is the creation of a green energy zone in Nakhchivan to generate clean energy, and the second is an interconnector to Turkey. A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) line is being considered. This corridor should transmit 1 GW of green energy.
