Azerbaijan becomes a crucial element of Europe's energy security
Ilham Aliyev: “We need to take important steps - political decisions, technical approaches and, of course, investments, because the capacity of the Southern Gas Corridor is different in different sections. The Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline has a capacity of 16 billion cubic meters. We plan to expand it to 32 billion cubic meters, and the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline has a capacity of 10 billion cubic meters and is almost full, so we need to expand it to at least 20 billion cubic meters. Of course, this will require additional funding. As a country and an investor, we are ready to do so, but so must the rest of our team”.
“ Azerbaijan was the first country to invite foreign leading energy companies to cooperate in the Caspian Sea. We have established strategic oil pipelines to Turkey's port on the Mediterranean Sea and Georgia's port on the Black Sea, which have changed the energy map of Europe by diversifying energy supplies to the world market," said the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, in his speech on "Azerbaijan's Role in energy security" at the International Forum held in Cernobbio, Italy, on September 2, 2022.
Speaking about the development of the capacity of gas fields in the country, President Ilham Aliyev said that, according to the information on the confirmed reserves of Azerbaijan, their amount equals 2.6 trillion cubic meters, and for the supply of natural gas from Azerbaijan to Europe is being developed the 3,500-kilometer Southern Gas Corridor.
President Ilham Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan and the European Commission recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding on a strategic partnership in the energy field, which envisages increasing gas exports to Europe to 20 billion cubic meters per year.
„We need to take important steps - political decisions, technical approaches and, of course, investments, because the capacity of the Southern Gas Corridor is different in different sections. The Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline has a capacity of 16 billion cubic meters. We plan to expand it to 32 billion cubic meters, and the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline has a capacity of 10 billion cubic meters and is almost full, so we need to expand it to at least 20 billion cubic meters. Of course, this will require additional funding. As a country and an investor, we are ready to do so, but so must the rest of our team.
At the same time, we see that now, after the Russo-Ukrainian war, the issue of natural gas in Europe has become vital for Europeans, and projects for various interconnectors have appeared. One of them, Greece-Bulgaria, is about to be opened. There are other similar projects. Such is, for example, the Ionian-Adriatic gas pipeline, which will supply three Balkan countries with Azerbaijani gas. In general, I can summarize that after the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, more than 10 countries have approached us with an official request to increase our supplies or start such, among them are countries that already receive gas from us, such as Turkey, Georgia, Italy, Bulgaria and many others” – the President added.
As the next stage of Azerbaijan's energy strategy, the president indicated investing in renewable energy sources. President Aliyev stated that numerous assessments of the potential of renewable energy in Azerbaijan have already been made, with a proven potential of 157 gigawatts of energy in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea alone.
"Today we are talking about how to deliver our electricity to Europe through the already existing line that passes through Georgia, Turkey and Bulgaria to the interior of Europe," the President announced to the forum participants.
Source: Embassy of Azerbaijan in Bulgaria