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Qabil Ashirov

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Regional countries must step up efforts to align export rules for renewable energy and jointly develop investment projects to access European energy markets, Florian Kitt, Senior Energy Specialist at the World Bank Group, said during his remarks at the Azerbaijan & Central Asia Green Energy Week 2025 in Baku, Azernews reports.

According to Kitt, the first step toward this goal should be the development of regionalized energy markets, particularly in the electricity sector.

"There are already positive developments in this direction: Georgia is a member of the European Energy Community, and Azerbaijan plans to complete full unbundling in its power sector by 2028. At present, electricity exports are largely governed by bilateral agreements. However, to create a system similar to the EU single market, much deeper harmonization of rules and standards will be required," he said.

Kitt reminded participants that Azerbaijan already has experience integrating with Turkiye’s energy system, which is connected to the European market, and has fulfilled a number of requirements in that process.

He also stressed the importance of joint planning and cross-border investments. "In this context, Azerbaijan has taken the initiative, together with Georgia, Romania, and Hungary, to establish a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the development of a ‘green energy port’ in Romania," Kitt added.

The discussions form part of a wider push to accelerate regional cooperation on renewables, seen as essential for meeting Europe’s growing demand for green electricity while supporting energy transition goals across the Caspian and Central Asia.