Ilham Aliyev opens "green corridor" to Europe Following the Bucharest agreement

On December 17, an "Agreement on Strategic Partnership in the Development and Supply of Green Energy between the governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, and Hungary" was signed in Bucharest. This document will surely lay a solid foundation for cooperation in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency between these countries.

Let us remind that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Romania on December 17 to attend the plenary session on the occasion of the signing ceremony of the above-mentioned document.

The agreement covers issues of cooperation in the field of production, transportation, and trade of renewable and clean energy, as well as "green hydrogen", transit and supply of electricity, energy efficiency and decarbonization, and supply to the European market of electricity produced from renewable sources.

In this context, it should be noted that one of the five priorities of the document "Azerbaijan 2030: National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development" is to make Azerbaijan a country with a clean environment. Indeed, in recent years the government has been working in this area in our country. Green energy and renewable energy production are becoming an important, future-oriented aspect of Azerbaijan's energy strategy.

This strategy was emphasized by President Aliyev at the VIII Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Consultative Council on February 4, 2022. The Head of the State emphasized in his speech that our country which had first become an exporter of oil and then natural gas also exports electricity to neighboring countries. He also noted that Azerbaijan has great opportunities for producing electricity from renewable sources. Aliyev informed about the work done in this field and noted the great potential for cooperation with other countries in the export of "green energy".

It should be noted that Azerbaijan's rich renewable energy potential has also attracted the attention of the EU. According to the results of discussions with the European Commission after the aforementioned meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council, a special place in the energy dialogue between the Old World and Azerbaijan, along with such traditional sectors as oil and gas, was taken by energy efficiency and energy production from renewable sources.

It's worth noting that the EU highly appreciates Azerbaijan's great potential in the field of renewable energy production. In particular, it stands to mention the "Memorandum of Understanding between the European Union and the Republic of Azerbaijan on Strategic Partnership in the field of energy" signed by President Ilham Aliyev and president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Baku on July 18, 2022. On the same day, Ursula von der Leyen said: "Azerbaijan has a huge potential in the field of renewable energy sources... Especially sea wind and green hydrogen energy are noteworthy. We discussed this topic at our bilateral meeting. Azerbaijan will gradually become an important and reliable partner for the EU in supplying renewable energy sources".

Today we can say with certainty that Azerbaijan has begun to implement a strategy on "green energy". Thus, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ionel Ciucă, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili signed an agreement in Bucharest with the participation of Romanian President Klaus Johannis and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. As a result of cooperation in this quadrilateral format, a "green energy" corridor will be created.

"'The Agreement on Strategic Partnership in the Development and Supply of Green Energy between the governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, and Hungary' will be another joint contribution to the energy security of Europe," President Ilham Aliyev said at the signing ceremony of the document. The Head of State noted that the agreement is extremely important for the creation of green energy security.

Like the Southern Gas Corridor, the corridor will diversify energy supply and transit routes to European countries and give a new impetus to the expansion of cooperation between countries through green energy resources.

The signing of this document will mark the practical beginning of a new stage of the production of "green energy" in the energy strategy of Azerbaijan. A new stage with more than 15-year history of cooperation with the European Union in the field of energy.