The Diplomat
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen yesterday signed a Strategic Partnership Memorandum of Understanding committing the Caspian coastal country to double gas supplies to the European Union by 2027, the Azerbaijani Embassy told The Diplomat.
During a press conference at the official residence of the Azerbaijani president outside Baku, Von der Leyen said that “the European Union is turning to more reliable energy suppliers”, as Russia’s “brutal aggression against Ukraine makes it no longer reliable to supply that country”. Azerbaijan will be a crucial partner in the security of the EU’s energy supply”, she said.
According to the President of the European Commission, “our goal is to double Azerbaijan’s gas shipments to the EU” and added that “with today’s (yesterday’s) agreement, we are committed to expanding the Southern Gas Corridor, doubling Azerbaijan’s supply to the EU” in the coming years, until 2027.
The agreement calls for Azerbaijan to supply 20 million cubic metres of natural gas to the EU each year. In the last year it has already increased its sales to Europe from 8 billion cubic metres in 2021 to 12 billion cubic metres in 2022, according to European Commission data.
The Azerbaijani president stressed at the press conference following the signing of the memorandum that his country has been cooperating with the EU in the energy sector for 15 years. He recalled that “this is not the first memorandum we have signed” – he gave as examples the one signed in 2006 and the Joint Declaration on the Southern Corridor in 2011 – but he valued it as “a roadmap for the future”.
Aliyev assured that “we have a good history of cooperation and good achievements”. He added that ‘energy projects initiated by Azerbaijan and supported by the EU have completely changed the energy map of Europe’.
Furthermore, the Azerbaijani President welcomed the fact that ‘this year we both sides have started an energy dialogue covering many areas, besides oil, gas, renewables, hydrogen and energy efficiency’. He went further by adding that “we are ready to start projects also in the fields of wind and solar energy”. In this respect, he referred to the solar and wind energy production potential of “some liberated areas in Karabakh”, which he put at 9,200 megawatts.
Aliyev also reported that during the meeting with Von der Leyen, the two sides discussed that “we have to make significant efforts and work actively to ensure connectivity, which we should make as important in our relationship as energy itself”.
President Aliyev also informed that in the coming months Azerbaijan and the European Union will sign the Strategic Partnership Agreement whose negotiations are being finalised by both sides.
