BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 30. This week, Greek Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kostas Fragogiannis said in his article that the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) are of strategic importance for the wider Balkans and South-Eastern Europe region.
According to the deputy minister, TAP, as well as IGB, being a part of the Southern Gas Corridor, turn Greece into regional energy gateway to the EU.
At the same time, it was announced that the technical forward capacity of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline’s (TAP) Kipoi interconnection stands at 400,000,000 kWh for December 26.
Nominations for gas flows (entry) at Kipoi (Greece) interconnection of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) totaled 371,404,291 kWh for December 26. At Komotini, the exit nominations for December 26 stand at 88,178,646 kWh. At Nea Mesimvria, the entry nominations for Dec.26 amount to 15,287,971 kWh, while exit nominations stand at 51,693,394 kWh. As for Melendugno, the exit nominations stand at 265,167,315 kWh for December 26 and the entry nominations for December 26 amounted to 21,347,093 kWh.
Meanwhile, as Philipp Lausberg, Policy Analyst in the Europe’s Political Economy program at the European Policy Centre (EPC) said, the EU's embargo on Russian oil will trigger demand spike for Azerbaijani crude from the European countries.
Thus, as Russian oil supply will likely diminish due to the oil price cap and the EU’s oil embargo, Azerbaijan will experience a rise of demand for its oil. This could also push up the price Baku is able to demand for its crude, Lausberg said.
Moreover, as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in its latest report, Azerbaijan's climate conditions provide substantial opportunities to expand solar-generated electricity.
According to the ADB, given the significant technical potential of solar energy in Azerbaijan, and with sufficient investment, it could partially replace gas-fired electricity in the future, making more gas available for export.
As the ADB pointed out, the construction of a 230 MW solar PV farm, agreed between Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy and the UAE's Masdar, which is expected to be commissioned in 2023, will set a positive example to attract other potential investors.
Meanwhile, this week, Azerbaijan's State Agency on Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources and "Siemens Energy" discussed the opportunities for cooperation.
Director of the state agency Javid Abdullayev met with the representative of the German "Siemens Energy" company Yashar Musayev.
During the meeting, Javid Abdullayev gave detailed information on projects implemented in Azerbaijan in the field of renewable energy, as well as on the use of hydrogen energy, contracts concluded with international companies in this direction, and the possibility of using the high potential of offshore wind energy in the production of green hydrogen in Azerbaijan.