BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. An electricity
link via Nakhchivan will open up new opportunities, Azerbaijan's
Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov said on Friday at the 2nd
Azerbaijan International Investment Forum in Baku, Trend's correspondent reports
from the event.
"The development of Azerbaijan's electricity link via Nakhchivan
is of strategic importance. With an initial transmission capacity
of 1 GW, to be developed in stages, this project will establish a
new link between the energy systems of our countries. In the
future, it will also create additional opportunities to deliver
green electricity generated in other regions of Azerbaijan and in
Central Asia to the markets of Türkiye and Europe via the Zangezur
Corridor.
The combined strategic importance of these projects is far
greater than the opportunities offered by each of them
individually. Our main goal is to connect these energy corridors
with each other and create an integrated and diversified
electricity network stretching from Central Asia to Europe," he
said.
Shahbazov said energy and transport corridors, fiber-optic lines
and electricity grid interconnections are becoming the new arteries
of the global system.
According to him, while the energy map of the last century was
shaped by the geography of oil and gas fields and pipeline routes,
the 21st-century energy map is being redrawn through electricity
grids, energy storage systems and green energy corridors connecting
countries, regions and continents.
"Growing energy demand driven by digitalization and
electrification, the widening gap between the deployment of
renewable energy sources and their integration into the grid, and
the need to ensure energy security are making electricity
interconnections and cross-border energy links a strategic priority
not only here, but across the world.
The fact that more than 2,500 GW of energy, industrial and
infrastructure projects worldwide are waiting to be connected to
the grid highlights the urgent need to strengthen grid
infrastructure and develop regional connectivity to accelerate the
green energy transition," he said.
The minister said the energy security of the future will not be
determined solely by the energy resources countries possess, but
also by their ability to connect these resources, establish
reliable links between energy systems and shape a shared energy
future.
"We invite the private sector, international financial
institutions and energy companies to actively participate in
developing regional energy connectivity and jointly benefit from
the opportunities offered by the emerging green energy market," he
said.
The second Azerbaijan International Investment Forum is being
held in Baku.
The two-day forum is organized by Azerbaijan’s Ministry of
Economy and its subordinate Azerbaijan Export and Investment
Promotion Agency (AZPROMO), in strategic partnership with European
House – Ambrosetti.
Plenary and panel sessions at the event will address strategic
issues including the Middle Corridor, energy and the green
transition, artificial intelligence and digital transformation,
infrastructure, industry and free economic zones, critical raw
materials, agribusiness, financial cooperation, small and
medium-sized business development, tourism, real estate and
investment in human capital.
