EU to double Azerbaijan gas imports by 2027
Von der Leyen - Aliyev - Photo - © European Union 2022
(BAKU) - The EU signed an agreement Monday to strengthen cooperation with Azerbaijan, including doubling gas imports to the EU by 2027, as part of efforts to move away from Russian fossil fuels.
Azerbaijan's president Ilham Aliyev and Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen signed the new Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic Partnership in the Field of Energy. This includes a commitment to double the capacity of the Southern Gas Corridor to deliver at least 20 billion cubic metres to the EU annually by 2027.
Currently, the EU and Azerbaijan are also negotiating a new comprehensive agreement, which will allow for enhanced cooperation in a wide range of areas, including economic diversification, investment, trade and making full use of the potential of civil society, while underscoring importance of human rights and rule of law.
"Today, with this new Memorandum of Understanding, we are opening a new chapter in our energy cooperation with Azerbaijan, a key partner in our efforts to move away from Russian fossil fuels," said EC president von der Leyen: "Not only are we looking to strengthen our existing partnership which guarantees stable and reliable gas supplies to the EU via the Southern Gas Corridor. We are also laying the foundations of a long-term partnership on energy efficiency and clean energy, as we both pursue the objectives of the Paris Agreement."
The new MoU is expected to contribute to the diversification objectives in the REPowerEU Plan and help Europe to end its dependency on Russian gas. Based on the strengthened energy cooperation, Azerbaijan is already now increasing deliveries of natural gas to the EU, from 8.1 billion cubic metres in 2021 to an expected 12 bcm in 2022.
As stated in the MoU, the EU and Azerbaijan share an ambition to accelerate the development and deployment of renewable energy generation and transmission capacity to fully reap the synergies between the EU's clean energy transition and Azerbaijan's strong untapped renewable energy potential, in particular in the offshore energy sector.
The two parties also acknowledge the importance of the Global Methane Pledge, and recognise that making the natural gas supply chain as efficient, environmentally and climate friendly as possible is a collective responsibility. The MoU supports the creation of schemes to collect natural gas that would otherwise be vented, flared or released into the atmosphere. Our cooperation will also be crucial to support Azerbaijan's accession to the Pledge.
Following the signature of the Memorandum of Understanding, Commissioner Simson will hold an EU-Azeri energy dialogue with Minister Shahbazov to discuss the practical implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding.