Azernews.Az

The Delegation of the European Union to Azerbaijan welcomed on Wednesday the recent decree of President Ilham Aliyev on the preparation of National Strategy on the use of Renewable Energy Sources for 2012-2020.

"Besides oil and gas, Azerbaijan has a great potential for green energies like solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass. The swift preparation of the appropriate legislative framework, as instructed by President Ilham Aliyev, will stimulate the development of this emerging sector, bring benefits to Azerbaijan's economy and contribute to reaching the global goals of combating climate change. The framework should also enhance the environment for potential investors; EU companies are world leaders in renewable energies and stand ready to share their technologies and experience in this area. The decree reinforces the already existing cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EU on renewable energy through budget support, and we hope to see a similar initiative for the no less important area of energy efficiency,'' said Ambassador Roland Kobia, the head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan.

The ambitions of Azerbaijan to form a truly sustainable energy system and to create the legal framework in order to establish optimal conditions for the promotion of renewable energy sector are expected to be fulfilled to the highest international standards. The planned strategy complements the achievements of Azerbaijan under the bilateral Energy Reform Support Programme. The EU funded Energy Reform Budget Support programme assists the Ministry of Energy and Industry in the development of a legislative and regulatory framework on renewable energy sources and energy efficiency in Azerbaijan. This programme was vested with EUR 14 million; the first fixed tranche was disbursed in 2010 and the second tranche (variable) most recently, in December 2011.