14 Mar 2023 15:33

First stage of "green" energy export from Azerbaijan to Europe planned at 4 GW - Aliyev

BAKU. March 14 (Interfax) - The volume of "green" electricity exports from Azerbaijan to Europe via a proposed cable at the bottom of the Black Sea is planned at the level of 4 GW at the first stage, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.

"In February of this year, the first meeting of the steering committee of the project for the export of "green" energy from Azerbaijan was held in Baku with the participation of the ministers of a number of European countries, as well as the European Commission Energy Commissioner. At the first meeting, we agreed that this would be an integrated project, not like the Southern Gas Corridor with the South Caucasus Pipeline, TANAP and TAP. This will be an integrated project from offshore wind farms in the Caspian to consumers in the EU," Aliyev said at a meeting with the heads of leading German companies in Berlin.

Aliyev noted that the volume to be supplied at the first stage of the project is planned at a level of 4 GW. "But for this we need to expand the transmission lines in Georgia. Otherwise, it will be absolutely useless," he said.

"We believe that 4 GW is just the beginning. We know the level of demand in Europe. We know the demand in Germany. I think we are talking about tens of gigawatts, and the demand will grow. We have the capacities. We just need to put all the puzzles together," Aliyev said.

As previously reported, in December 2022, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary signed an agreement in Bucharest on a strategic partnership for the construction of a 1,195 km Black Sea Energy underwater electrical cable to supply green electricity produced in Azerbaijan through Georgia and the Black Sea to Romania for onward transportation to Hungary and the rest of Europe. At the time, it was assumed the capacity would be 1 GW.

The project is currently at the feasibility study stage, which is scheduled to be completed in September 2023. Construction will take 3-4 years.

The European Commission plans to provide 2.3 billion euros to lay the cable, which will be the longest in the world.