Long-awaited pipeline to put a stop to Nakhchivan's gas blockade New milestone in Azerbaijan-Türkiye cooperation

This year Azerbaijan and Türkiye have stepped up cooperation in the field of ensuring energy independence and security of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR). The most important step in this direction will be gas supplies to NAR through the Igdir-Nakhchivan gas pipeline: laying of the foundation stone of this pipeline took place on September 25. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was on an official visit to our country, took part in the ceremony.

Just under three years have passed since the Memorandum of Understanding on natural gas supplies to NAR was signed between the Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Türkiye in Ankara. The agreement, dated December 15, 2020, stipulated that the state oil companies of the two countries - SOCAR and BOTAS - would participate in the construction of an 85-kilometre branch of the Igdir-Nakhchivan gas pipeline with a capacity of 500 million cubic metres of gas per year. In the following period, the technical aspects of the gas pipeline project were elaborated, its route was specified and feasibility studies were developed, in February 2022, funds were allocated from the state budget of Azerbaijan for laying communications within the framework of this endeavour. It was also reported that the construction of a gas distribution station in Diluju, Türkiye, kicked off within the framework of this project: this facility was intended to ensure a stable balance of gas flow through the pipeline to consumers in Nakhchivan. However, due to a number of objective circumstances, the direct implementation of the pipeline project has been started only now.

"The construction of the Igdir-Nakhchivan gas pipeline is an important event in the history of our brotherly relations and will give a new impetus to our ties, will provide energy security of Nakhchivan to a greater extent," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in a press statement. The head of state recalled that since the 90s, when Armenia pursued an aggressive occupation policy against Azerbaijan, also making territorial claims against Nakhchivan, the energy supply of the autonomy was completely interrupted.

"Armenia disconnected all electricity and gas lines leading from the main part of Azerbaijan, and Nakhchivan was actually in a blockade: there was no light, no gas, and in the conditions of very cold winters Nakhchivan lived without gas supply for 15 years. Only in 2005, under the agreement signed with the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iranian gas was supplied to the autonomy through mutual exchange," President Ilham Aliyev recalled, stressing that laying of the Igdir-Nakhchivan gas pipeline will create conditions for supplying natural gas to Nakhchivan through the second, Turkish line.

It should be noted that the Igdir-Nakhchivan gas pipeline project is among the most priority undertakings of the "State Programme of Socio-Economic Development of NAR for 2023-2027" adopted on June 5, 2023. The length of the pipeline from Igdir to NAR's Sadarak district is 97.5 kilometres, including 17.5 kilometres of the Azerbaijani section and 80 kilometres of the Turkish section. The pipeline is designed to pump two million cubic metres of gas per day or 730 million cubic metres per year. In the future, the capacity of the pipeline can be more than doubled, but even in the initial version, its design capacity can fully meet the needs of the 460,000-strong population of the NAR, as well as the communal and industrial sectors of the autonomy for blue fuel.

One of the most important goals of the Azerbaijani-Turkish gas project is to rid Nakhichevan of energy dependence: for almost 18 years, the autonomy's gas supply has been ensured mainly through gas supplies from Iran through offsetting, but despite the long-standing validity of such schemes, today, due to the most complicated geopolitical disagreements in the region, Azerbaijan cannot risk relying only on the Iranian vector of gas supply. On the other hand, the implementation of the Igdir-Nakhchivan project creates long-term prospects for the construction of combined-cycle and other thermal power plants in the autonomy, which in the future may provide NAR with additional revenues from energy exports. Thus, several years ago, the Turkish business proposed a project of a 550 MW gas turbine power plant, after the construction of which it would be possible to export electricity to the Turkish market.

At the same time, one should not overlook the huge potential for the development of renewable energy sources (RES) in Nakhchivan, primarily the construction of hydroelectric power plants. It is through the commissioning of various tributary and derivation hydropower plants that the autonomy has been able to largely provide itself with alternative sources of electricity. "Despite the fact that Nakhchivan has no gas or oil, there is sunshine, and we have big plans related to the construction of solar power plants here: if these plans are realised, NAR may turn into a zone of 'green' energy, as there is a great potential for the construction of both solar, wind and hydroelectric power plants. In the future, 'green' electricity can be exported to Türkiye, at least 1000 MW of energy," President Ilham Aliyev said while making a statement to the media.

Moreover, the autonomy has a huge potential for electricity transit: in particular, the construction of high-voltage power lines and powerful substations is planned here, which will connect the autonomy with the energy complex being formed in Garabagh and Eastern Zangezur, consisting of small hydroelectric power plants, solar and wind power stations, and this system will allow transhipment of electricity in the direction of Türkiye and other countries in the region. As part of these endeavours, a 255-kilovolt Shakhtakhty substation is to be built in eastern Nakhchivan AR, and another substation will be built on the border with Türkiye to convert 330 kilovolts to 400 kilovolts, from where a 230-km double-circuit 400-kilovolt transmission line will be laid to Türkiye.

The sphere of gas supply is by no means the only area on which Azerbaijani-Turkish cooperation in the western region of our country is based. "Nakhchivan occupies a special place in Azerbaijani-Turkish relations due to its strategic importance throughout history. In this regard, the Igdir-Nakhchivan gas pipeline project will deepen our partnership with Azerbaijan in the energy sector, as well as contribute to Europe's energy security. We have once again demonstrated our desire to develop our relations in the spheres of transport, logistics and energy, and along with the Kars-Nakhchivan railway project, agreements related to the construction of residential buildings and electricity transmission were recently signed," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after the ceremony.

In particular, other Azerbaijani-Turkish documents were signed by the heads of the two brotherly states and heads of relevant state agencies on September 25. They include an interstate protocol of intentions on the Kars-Nakhchivan railway project, an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the Turkish province of Kahramanmarash, where construction of residential buildings, primary school, kindergarten and cultural centre is planned, as well as a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the energy departments of the two countries in the field of transmission of electricity produced from RES sources in Azerbaijan and Türkiye.