EU gas diversification and Azerbaijan's green energy commitment on agenda at Baku meetings
The ministerial meetings in Baku included discussions on plans for offshore wind farms in the Caspian Sea and participation in global methane emissions reduction efforts.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 I think the performance of the countries with fossil fuels must be judged by how they address
00:08 the issue of environmental protection, how they address the issue of green transition.
00:20 Azerbaijan, a land where Eastern Europe meets Western Asia.
00:25 It's home to over 10 million people with half of them being based in bustling Baku, set
00:30 on the Caspian Sea.
00:32 The country is rich in oil and natural gas resources and has hosted the 10th Southern
00:37 Gas Corridor and second Green Energy Advisory Council ministerial meetings.
00:44 High on the agenda was discussion about the expansion of the corridor, a crucial route
00:49 of gas supply diversification for the EU and its neighbouring countries.
00:55 We started to build this partnership between countries, between companies, inviting leading
01:02 international financial institutions to support us with their financing.
01:08 And 3,500 kilometre long pipeline is now a reality.
01:16 Azerbaijan last year increased their gas exports by 9%, up to 22 billion cubic metres.
01:23 Currently their main buyers in Europe include Italy, Greece, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria.
01:30 There are many new partner countries who are willing to receive even additional volumes
01:38 of natural gas despite the fact that we are transitioning away from fossil fuels, but
01:44 this takes some decades.
01:47 Now we want to establish also the future proof cooperation.
01:52 And that collaboration as well as transition to green and renewable energy was also discussed
01:57 as President Aliyev called for a change in the narrative when judging countries with
02:02 fossil fuel.
02:03 We do it not because we lack traditional resources but because we want to contribute using the
02:11 financing, using the revenues which we get from oil and gas sales to invest in renewables
02:17 and to create a common understanding about the need for that.
02:24 It's a sentiment that has EU backing.
02:27 A couple of years ago European Union launched a global methane pledge and this is exactly
02:33 to cut methane emissions which is second most potent greenhouse gas from the oil and gas
02:39 industry and Azerbaijan joined this pledge last hop so this shows that they are behaving
02:46 responsibly and on top of that with all these offshore development plans they can replace
02:53 domestic electricity production.
02:56 And the use of wind farms in the Caspian Sea looks set to play a pivotal role in the green
03:01 transition.
03:03 Energy is a cross-border thing.
03:05 Take Azerbaijan, they want to build lots of offshore wind farms in the Caspian Sea.
03:11 They won't consume that energy themselves, they'll send it through a new power cable
03:16 that will be built across the Caucasus under the Black Sea into Europe.
03:21 This is international cooperation, you can only do things like this when the governments
03:27 come together and they come together with the industry who's going to build it.
03:31 SoCAR, the state oil company of the Republic of Azerbaijan is already implementing strategies
03:37 to accelerate lower carbon solutions and decarbonization technologies.
03:43 We all understand that oil and gas industry will continue to provide a very vital, sustainable
03:51 and reliable, in a sustainable way, reliable energy and help us to basically transition
03:57 to cleaner sources of energy.
03:59 You know that carbon border adjustment mechanism starts to penalize the exporters or importers
04:05 into EU starting from 2026, fertilizers are there.
04:09 So we'd like to explore the opportunities of decarbonizing our production of fertilizers
04:15 as well.
04:16 President Aliyev was also passionate about the wider effects of climate change as the
04:21 country prepares to host this year's COP29.
04:24 We see the implication and dangerous implication of the climate change, less water in our rivers,
04:32 less snow in our mountains, less water in the Caspian Sea.
04:37 And if we don't address this issue with passion and with a commitment, then all of us will
04:45 suffer.
04:46 So renewable projects agenda of Azerbaijan is very ambitious.
04:50 An ambitious plan indeed for Azerbaijan and the wider global energy industry.
04:55 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]