Azerbaijani-Turkish cooperation changing world’s energy map

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov has hailed joint strategic energy projects with Turkey, saying that such projects are reshaping the world’s energy map.

He made this remark during the online seminar attended by his Turkish counterpart Fatih Donmez.

Addressing the seminar that was dedicated to the electricity market and renewable energy sources management in the conditions of liberal market relations, Shahbazov said: “Thanks to the joint efforts of the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, strategic energy projects show that our cooperation plays an important role in reshaping the energy map of not only the two countries but also of the world. Turkey's achievements  in the field of electricity market and renewable energy and our cooperation in this field will also contribute to the development of our energy sector on the basis of new relations.”

The minister briefed the participants on the work done in Azerbaijan over the gradual transition to the liberal market model in the field of power engineering, the law on market principles in the field of power engineering and proposals on the transition to the liberal market.

Noting that the expansion of the renewable energy sources use was defined as one of the priority directions of economy’s reforms and diversification, Shahbazov stated that it is planned to bring the share of renewable energy sources in the total installed capacity of the country to 30 percent by 2030.

The pilot projects related to wind and solar power plants with a total capacity of 470 MW which are being implemented in this direction were noted.

Moreover, the participants were briefed on the steps taken to study international practice in the field of transition to the liberal market and integration of renewable energy sources into the electricity network.

Addressing seminar, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez emphasized that the unity and brotherhood of the two countries contribute to peace and stability in the region and in the world, while joint energy projects, including TANAP to the energy security of Turkey and Europe. In addition, he noted that thanks to TAP, the strategic importance of TANAP and Azerbaijani gas will further increase.

Noting that the liberal power market has been applied in Turkey for years, a well-qualified and competitive system has been developed and the progress in the field of renewable energy was gained, he underlined the readiness of Turkey to share its practice in this direction with Azerbaijan.  

A two-day seminar was held with the participation of representatives of Azerbaijan Energy Ministry, Azerbaijan Energy Regulatory Agency, Azerenergy OJSC, Azerishig OJSC, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Ministry, Energy Market Regulatory Authority, Energy Exchange Istanbul and the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation.

The parties exchanged views on the stages of transition to the liberal power market in Turkey, issues arising out of the transition and how to resolve them, the pricing, settlement between entities, balancing, the arrangement and management of service markets, the back-up mechanism, resolution of matters of the integration of renewable energy sources to the network, and the impact of an enlarged use of such energy sources on the market.

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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad

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