The 8th Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) Advisory Council was held in the Azerbaijan capital of Baku on 4 February. Attending the event were the European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi, as well as high-ranking representatives of the US, UK, Turkey, Georgia, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Croatia, Hungary, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine and Turkmenistan.
“The meeting reaffirms the strategic energy partnership between Azerbaijan and the European Union (EU) based on shared goals of long-term energy security, security of supply and the green energy transition,” said the co-chairs of the meeting, the Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan Parviz Shahbazov and European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simon.
Azerbaijan continues to play a strategic role as a key enabler of the Southern Gas Corridor and it continues its efforts to deliver secure, stable and affordable energy supplies to Europe. The recent global surge in gas prices has once again highlighted the need for the diversification of supplies, said the statement by the co-chairs.
In a speech at the opening of the event, President of Azerbaijan H.E Ilham Aliyev stated: “On 31 December, 2020, which by the way is the Day of Solidarity of Azerbaijanis of the world, we reported about the completion of the Southern Gas Corridor, its last part TAP project. I would like to also express gratitude to all the participants of the project, first of all to the European Commission.
“Also, I would like first to express gratitude to the governments of the countries, members of the Southern Gas Corridor-Turkey, Georgia and Greece, as well as Bulgaria, Albania and Italy really worked as one team, and this coordination on the national level helped us to implement this huge project. One of the largest projects of the 21st century, the Southern Gas Corridor is worth 33 billion US dollars. At the same time, of course, we could not have achieved success without active participation of the energy and construction companies, as well as the investors and the international financial institutions, including the World Bank, EBRD, Asian Development Bank, EIB, Asian infrastructure and Investment Bank.
“Last year Azerbaijani export of natural gas was 19 billion cubic meters, of which 8.5 billion was to Turkey, almost 7 billion to Italy and the rest to other members of the team, -Georgia, Greece and Bulgaria. I am sure that as soon as the new member of our team, Albania, completes its gas distribution network, it too will be a recipient of Azerbaijani gas.
“The proven gas reserves of Azerbaijan are known to be 2.6 trillion cubic meters, of which the biggest is Shah Deniz at 1 trillion cubic meters. I am sure there will be more, because based on our experience with respect to oil and gas development, we always see bigger reserves from new discoveries and due to new technologies.”
Speaking about renewable energy plans, the President said: “We have a special program for liberated territories. Our minister of energy together with leading companies, international companies has already prepared a conceptual outlook for a ‘green energy’ zone in Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur. Preliminary assessment on the potential of renewable sources in Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur indicate it is about 7,200 megawatt of potential wind energy, and more than 2,000 megawatt of potential in solar energy. By the way, I also would like to inform you that our strategic partner in oil and gas – BP has shown a big interest in working on the liberated territories, particularly, in the district of Jabrayil.’’
“Issues related to energy security, and energy diversification do not need to be proven as important. We all understand it. Of course, for a country like Azerbaijan with huge resources of oil and gas and renewable potential, we understand our responsibility. And I can tell you that we will act in a responsible way in the future, in order to create better opportunities. Also, I would like to say that the energy policy which we have goes even beyond the issues of energy diversification and energy security, because it creates new links between the countries. It helps in the development of relationships and to increase the level of mutual trust between all the countries involved in this process,” said the president concluding his speech.
For her part, the European Commissioner for Energy Ms. Simson said in her speech: “I want to thank Azerbaijan for the efforts in ramping up the gas supplies traveling to the EU via the Southern Gas Corridor. This is a delicate moment in terms of the security of our gas supply, and Azerbaijan has stepped up and supported us, and Azerbaijan remains a reliable and trusted partner for the EU.”
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