BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 30. The World Bank is
considering Azerigas Gas Leak Detection and Repair Facility in
Azerbaijan, Trend reports via the Bank.


The development objective is to reduce fugitive methane
emissions from the gas distribution network operated by Azerigas,
and to strengthen Azerigas' asset management capacity.


Commitment amount is $15 million. The approval date is April 23,
2026.


The project will establish a recipient-executed financial
Facility for gas leak detection and repair (LDAR) in the gas
distribution system operated by Azerigas. The Facility will be
launched with an initial grant from the Global Flaring and Methane
Reduction Partnership (GFMR) trust fund. SOCAR will be the
Recipient of the grant and the holder of grant and Facility
accounts, and Azerigas will be the sole beneficiary of the grant
and the implementing entity responsible for day-to-day
implementation and project management. The money will be
reallocated from SOCAR to Azerigas for agreed leak detection and
repair activities to reduce fugitive emissions of methane on a
rolling basis.







The project will build on learnings from Azerigas’ pilot gas
leak baseline program in Baku. Repair activities will be proposed
and implemented by Azerigas according to preliminary agreed
eligibility criteria. Proposed activities will be prioritized based
on cost, complexity, impact, and other relevant criteria to
maximize the amount of emissions reduced per US$ deployed.In order
to guarantee a longer term impact, a key aspect of the proposed
financial Facility will be that majority of financial benefits
resulting from gas savings as a consequence of leak repair will be
re-invested into the Facility, so as to mobilize additional capital
to further rehabilitate Azerigas assets.


Furthermore, the GFMR-funds initially and the Facility
subsequently will be used to build capacity within Azerigas to
carry out monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of emissions
in line with the OGMP 2.0 standard.GFMR grant funding will enable
activities that would otherwise not take place due to the strained
and constrained financial situation of Azerigas, unlocking methane
emission abatement action within the current decade.