Azerbaijan, Georgia, Hungary and Romania signed a Joint letter on the Green Energy Corridor in Budapest

The 10th Ministerial Meeting/Steering Committee for the implementation of the Agreement on Strategic Partnership in the field of development and transfer of green energy between Azerbaijan, Georgia, Hungary and Romania was held in Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Azerbaijan was represented at the event by Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov, Hungary by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto, Georgia by First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Levan Davitashvili, Romania by Minister of Energy Sebastian-Ioan Burduja, and Bulgaria by Minister of Energy Zhecho Stankov. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the European Commission, the Joint Venture GECO Power Company and the Italian company CESI.

At the meeting, the development of Azerbaijan's renewable energy potential, progress and prospects on the Caspian-Black Sea-European Green Energy Corridor project were considered. The issues related to the activities of the Green Energy Corridor Power Company (GECO), Bulgaria's involvement in the project, the current state of the feasibility study implemented by the CESI, cooperation with the European Union (EU) on project financing were discussed.

Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov said that work is underway on relevant contract documents with a number of international wind energy companies on 4 sites identified in the Azerbaijani segment of the Caspian Sea, and these agreements will also contribute to our plans for the development of green hydrogen. The Minister presented recommendations on the production and transportation components of the project, as well as business models and research on the distribution of potential volumes of green energy of the Caspian Sea in the region. It was proposed to create two streams in the Working Group in close coordination with GECO and CESI: "The first stream can focus on the business models of the project and carry out preparatory work to establish contacts with potential investors and buyers, and the second - to consider the technical details and compliance with the requirements of ENTSO-E and other relevant organizations."

The Minister also stressed the importance of taking decisive steps to include the fiber-optic component of the project in the scope of the feasibility study.

After the discussions, the ministers of the 4 countries signed a Protocol on the results of the meeting and a Joint letter from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary to the Commissioner of the European Union (EU) for Energy, Dan Jorgensen. The purpose of the letter is to provide appropriate support for granting the Caspian-Black Sea Green Energy Corridor project with Project of Mutual Interest (PMI) status. It was agreed that in order to include the project in the EU`s Ten-Year Network Development Plan (TYNDP), the corresponding request will be submitted by the transmission system operator Transelectrica in the period from 1 April to 9 May, 2025, and the overall control of the process will be carried out jointly with GECO.

It was also agreed to start the procedure for Bulgaria's accession to the Intergovernmental Agreement. The joint Venture was also given the appropriate authority to join Bulgaria to the project and take into account issues related to the fiber-optic cable (FOC) component in the scope of the feasibility study. During the meeting, a corresponding document was signed with the aim of transferring the main powers and obligations under the contract between the Ministry of Energy and CESI to GECO.

 It was decided to hold the next Ministerial Meeting in Georgia.

At the end, a briefing was held on the results of the Budapest Meeting of Ministers.

It should be noted that the Agreement on Strategic Partnership between the Governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary in the field of Development and Transmission of Green Energy was signed on 17 December 2022 in Bucharest.