BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 23. Azerbaijan’s
second-largest city Ganja has successfully developed its Green City
Action Plan and moved to the active implementation stage under the
EBRD Green Cities programme, with the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) expecting other Azerbaijani
cities to follow suit, EBRD Director, Head of Energy Eurasia
(covering Türkiye, Caucasus, Central Asia &Mongolia) Sule Kilic
said in an exclusive interview with Trend.
“Ganja’s success story fills us with confidence that other
cities will follow suit across Azerbaijan. We stand ready and will
be delighted to support other cities in joining our Green Cities
programme!” she said.
Kilic highlighted that the EBRD’s support in Azerbaijan goes far
beyond urban projects, extending to renewable energy and
sustainable infrastructure.
“In Azerbaijan alone, we’ve financed over 1.2 gigawatts of
utility-scale wind and solar power and we remain the sole
multilateral development bank that has supported all such wind and
solar developments in Azerbaijan,” she said.
She added that the Bank has also provided extensive technical
support to the country’s energy sector, including renewable
auctions launched during COP29 in Baku, regulatory reforms, grid
integration, low-carbon pathway development and support for a green
hydrogen strategy.
“One big advantage that we bring to the table is that the EBRD
is actively supporting renewables and energy infrastructure
development in both Central Asian and European countries, so we are
well-positioned to engage across borders, supporting preparation
with our people on the ground, helping mobilise private capital
together with our international partners and financing sustainable
infrastructure for further integration,” Kilic explained.
Discussing the integration of renewable energy into ageing urban
grids in cities such as Baku and Istanbul, she stressed that this
requires grid modernisation, investment in transmission and
distribution infrastructure, deployment of smart-grid technologies
and storage solutions, as well as improved interconnections and
grid management systems.
“The EBRD plays an important role in reducing the risks
associated with this large-scale transition. In addition to
providing long-term financing, we support such projects through
policy dialogue, regulatory reforms and technical assistance aimed
at strengthening the investment framework and improving
bankability,” she said.
Kilic added that the Bank works closely with governments,
utilities, sponsors and commercial lenders to mobilise
private-sector participation and improve investor confidence in
cleaner and more resilient energy systems.
Touching upon Azerbaijan’s liberated territories, she confirmed
that the EBRD is preparing a new programme together with the
European Union to support internally displaced persons returning to
Karabakh.
“The Bank is currently working with the European Union on a
programme to support Internally Displaced Persons returning to
Karabakh by creating sustainable economic opportunities for them.
This will include private sector support and skills development,”
Kilic said.
“The programme is currently on the preparation stage. And Baku
Resident Office will be able to share more details about this
soon,” she added.
Kilic also discussed the Bank’s work in Central Asia. She
highlighted that the EBRD is the region’s largest investor in
renewable energy, having financed more than 6.5 gigawatts of
installed renewable capacity and mobilised 4.2 billion euros for
the energy sector.
“The Bank takes a holistic approach to supporting energy
transition, not only investing in renewable energy capacity but
also helping to build the supporting auxiliary infrastructure
needed to facilitate integration into the power system, and
therefore prioritising investments in grid and regional network
infrastructure projects,” she said.
She noted that Kazakhstan’s national grid operator KEGOC has
been a long-standing EBRD partner since the 1990s, with the Bank
supporting seven projects to date, including the Integration of the
West Zone Project connecting the country’s isolated western power
zone with the national grid through more than 600 kilometres of
high-voltage transmission lines.
“In April 2026, at the Regional Ecological Summit in Astana, the
EBRD signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government of
Kazakhstan announcing the Just Energy Transition Investment
Platform (QaJET). The platform is expected to mobilise up to 20
billion euros of investments to deploy 10 gigawatts of renewable
capacity by 2035,” Kilic said.
According to her, the EBRD has already financed the first QaJET
project — the one-gigawatt Mirny Wind project developed by
TotalEnergies and local partners, including a 300-megawatt battery
storage component.
“We hit the ground running within the framework of QaJET and
financed its first project, a one-gigawatt Mirny Wind, with a
300-megawatt, 600 megawatt hour battery storage component developed
by TotalEnergies together with its local partners, for which the
Bank mobilised around $550 million,” she said.
“The inclusion of the battery storage component is a critical
element in ensuring the sustainable integration of the project into
Kazakhstan’s energy system,” Kilic added.
Speaking about Uzbekistan, she noted that the EBRD supports the
country’s renewable energy expansion through investments in
transmission infrastructure and cooperation with the National
Electric Grid of Uzbekistan (NEGU).
“We have financed high-voltage transmission lines spanning
several hundred kilometres, as well as major substations,
connecting new wind and solar capacity in remote areas to the
central grid. We are also developing a strong pipeline of new grid
projects to support further expansion,” she said.
Kilic also stressed that the Bank provides technical assistance
to strengthen NEGU’s corporate governance, improve project delivery
and enhance capacity to manage increasingly complex power
systems.
