Azernews.Az

By Leman Mammadova

Azerbaijan and Germany have established versatile cooperation in the field of energy and there are all possibilities for expanding this cooperation.

Azerbaijan and Germany discussed bilateral cooperation in the energy sphere.

Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov met with a delegation led by State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy Thomas Bareiss at the Ministry of Energy.

Minister Parviz Shahbazov underlined the importance of the further development of relations between the two countries and stressed the importance of the German-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce, the High-Level Trade and Investment Working Group, as well as the important role of the Manager Training Programme of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

The minister noted that there is a diverse cooperation with Germany in the field of energy and there are new opportunities for expanding this cooperation. The main share of Azerbaijan's exports to Germany is oil and oil products. Last year, SOCAR supplied over 2.2 million tons of crude oil to Germany.

In addition, the projects implemented with Uniper company of Germany on energy efficiency in oil and gas production, modernization of gas supply network in Baku and Absheron peninsula, as well as projects implemented with Siemens and other German companies in the electricity sector, were mentioned.

Azerbaijan highly appreciated the cooperation with German companies such as VPC, Enerco, in designing and implementing diagnostics and audit of power plants in the country, optimization and recovery of generating capacities and power transmission systems.

Giving information about the work to expand the use of renewable energy sources, Azerbaijani side expressed its interest in cooperation with Germany (SimensGamesa) in this area.

The representatives of Uniper, EWE, Vito and other German companies shared their views on energy cooperation prospects.

Germany, like most European countries, supports the implementation of large-scale energy projects by Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan declared itself in the international arena as a guarantor of Europe’s energy security, and this fact is very important and valuable for Germany as the leading country of the European Union.

It should be noted that very important aspects of cooperation related to the supply of gas to Europe, as well as the prospect of further ties in the energy sector were discussed in the framework of the visit of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Baku in August 2018.

The German Chancellor emphasized that Azerbaijan is an important country for the EU in terms of the diversification of Europe's energy security and the launch of the Southern Gas Corridor project will play an important role in ensuring Europe's energy security.

Germany plays an important role in Azerbaijan-EU energy cooperation. The energy cooperation between the two countries covers the following areas: legislation in the field of energy cooperation, study of practice in the energy security and reliability, deepening of reforms at the energy market, modernization of the energy infrastructures, energy efficiency, energy saving and development of renewable energy sources.

SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) is cooperating with German RWE in exploration and development of the promising structure Nakhchivan and with UNIPER company in energy and steam generation.

It should be emphasized that the German energy provider Uniper and SOCAR have been working in close cooperation for the past five years.

Uniper company is one of the buyers of Azerbaijani gas in the framework of the Shah Deniz-2 project and will purchase a total of 40 billion cubic meters of gas under the agreement.

Since January 1, 2016, Uniper had a spin-off with German E.ON company which was one of the nine European companies that signed an agreement with Shah Deniz consortium in September 2013 on purchasing Azerbaijani gas. The gas trading business is now in the responsibility of Uniper.

Uniper also cooperates with SOCAR’s chemical sub-company Azerikimya. SOCAR-Uniper joint venture operating from 2016 is conducting modernization based on German technologies at the Azerkimya Production Union’s enterprises.

Uniper and SOCAR will collaborate on projects aimed at improving the energy efficiency of oil and gas production in Azerbaijan. The two companies signed an agreement on the same day with German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s trip to Azerbaijan.

The recently signed new agreement in the field of oil and gas production, energy efficiency, use of new technologies, optimization of energy consumption and reduction of carbon emissions will contribute to the development of this sphere in Azerbaijan.

As of October 2018, Baku hosted the German-Azerbaijani Business Forum on Energy and ICT, organized by the German-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce (AHK Azerbaijan).

In November last year, the First German-Azerbaijani Business Dialogue was held in Berlin.

Recently, Baku hosted the eighth meeting of the Azerbaijani-German high-level working group.

Last year Azerbaijan’s share among Germany’s partners in the South Caucasus was 70 percent. The trade turnover between the countries increased by 61 percent and reached $1.4 billion in 2018. German companies invested $570 million in the Azerbaijani economy. Currently, 154 companies with German capital are operating in Azerbaijan.

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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

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