BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 2. bp, being initially the sole investor in the Shafag project, a 240MW AC solar plant to be built in the Jabrayil region of Azerbaijan, today signed a shareholders’ agreement (SHA) with SOCAR Green (SOCAR) and the Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC), forming a new joint venture called Shafag (Jabrayil) Solar Limited (SJSL), which will be the joint investment vehicle in the project, Trend reports via bp.
This follows the signing of an accession agreement between the same parties in September last year, which initiated negotiations for the SHA.
The Shafag project is expected to pilot a new commercial structure called a “Virtual Power Transfer Arrangement”, which if implemented will enable the project to produce solar power and deliver it to the national power grid operator, AzerEnerji, in the Jabrayil region. AzerEnerji would then deliver an equivalent quantity of electricity to the Sangachal terminal near Baku, which would in turn enable the terminal to use this renewable electricity for its energy needs.
The SHA was signed by Colin Allan, bp’s vice president of finance for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye, on behalf of SJSL; Noelia Marivela Alvarez, bp’s vice president for solar and onshore wind on behalf of bp as a shareholder in SJSL; Rovshan Najaf, President of SOCAR, on behalf of SOCAR Green; and Ulvi Mansurov, Executive Director of AIC, on behalf of AIC.
The Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan and bp signed an Implementation Agreement and several addenda to it in 2021-2022 on the development of the Shafag project – a 240MW AC solar plant to be built in the Jabrayil region of Azerbaijan.
The environmental and socio-economic impact assessment of the project was disclosed, publicly discussed and approved by the government of Azerbaijan in 2024.
