Azerbaijan leads CIS states in EAPI 2016 report
By Aynur Karimova
Azerbaijan has left behind the CIS countries in the Global Energy Architecture Performance Index Report 2016.
Azerbaijan climbed by one position in the report and took the 32nd place among 126 countries. In the last year's EAPI report, Azerbaijan stood at the 33rd place.
The Energy Architecture Performance Index, developed by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Accenture, aims to provide an additional set of data to help leaders benchmark the current performance of national energy systems, and inform decision-making in the context of the changes under way in the global energy landscape.
When developing the report, some 21 indices are taken into account, in particular, the ratio of imports and exports of energy products to GDP, on emissions of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, on electrification tariffs and so on.
Azerbaijan's total score in the EAPI 2016 report was 0.68. The country got this score in the economic growth and development sub-index, which measures the extent to which a country’s energy architecture adds or detracts from economic growth.
In the environmental sustainability sub-index, which measures the environmental impact of energy supply and consumption of the country, Azerbaijan got 0.57 score.
Azerbaijan's score in the energy access and security sub-index, which measures the extent to which an energy supply is secure, accessible and diversified, was 0.79.
In the EAPI 2016 report, the first place was occupied by Switzerland while Norway was the second and Sweden was the third. France, Denmark, Austria, Spain, Colombia, New Zealand and Uruguay entered the top ten.
Among the CIS countries, Russia stood at the 52nd place, while Armenia - at 56th and Georgia - at 46th. As for other CIS countries of the Central Asian region, Kazakhstan took the 57th place, Uzbekistan - 84th, Kyrgyzstan - 96th and Turkmenistan - 118th place.
Azerbaijan with its huge oil and gas reserves, not only ensures its own energy security, but also plays an important role in ensuring energy security of Europe.
The Azerbaijan-initiated Southern Gas Corridor is considered by the EU as a vital project for pursuing the energy security strategy of the union.
Southern Gas Corridor project envisages the transportation of the gas extracted at the giant Shah Deniz field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. Shah Deniz Stage 2 gas will make a 3,500 kilometer journey from the Caspian Sea into Europe. This requires upgrading the existing infrastructure and the development of a chain of new pipelines.
The existing South Caucasus Pipeline will be expanded with a new parallel pipeline across Azerbaijan and Georgia, while the Trans-Anatolian pipeline will transport Shah Deniz gas across Turkey to meet the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, which will take gas through Greece and Albania into Italy.
The Southern Gas Corridor is set to change the energy map of the entire region, connecting gas supplies in the Caspian to markets in Europe for the very first time.
The first gas supplies through the corridor to Georgia and Turkey are given a target date of late 2018. Gas deliveries to Europe are expected just over a year after the first gas is produced offshore in Azerbaijan.
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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova
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