Azerbaijan learns Turkish practice to establish liberal electricity market

Within the implementation of the relevant instructions of the Head of the State on accelerating reforms in the energy sector of the Republic of Azerbaijan, an online seminar was held to learn the Turkish practice to establish the liberal electricity market in our country. Minister of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan Parviz Shahbazov and Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Turkey Fatih Donmez also attended the seminar  dedicated to the management of the electricity market and renewable energy sources in the conditions of liberal market relations.  
Minister Parviz Shahbazov noted that cooperation with brotherly Turkey is developing in all areas, including the energy sector: “Thanks to the joint efforts of the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, strategic energy projects show that our cooperation plays an important role in reshaping the energy map of not only the two countries but also of the world. Turkey's achievements  in the field of electricity market and renewable energy and our cooperation in this field will also contribute to the development of our energy sector on the basis of new relations.” 
 During the speech, information was given about the work done in Azerbaijan in connection with the gradual transition to the liberal market model in the field of power engineering, law on market principles in the field of power engineering and proposals on the transition to the liberal market were prepared.  It was underlined that the expansion of the use of renewable energy sources was defined as one of the priority directions of the reforms and diversification of the economy by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and it is planned to bring the share of renewable energy sources in the total installed capacity of the country to 30% by 2030. It was noted that pilot projects related to wind and solar power plants with a total capacity of 470 MW are being implemented in this direction. At the same time, information was given about steps taken to study international practice in the field of transition to the liberal market and integration of renewable energy sources into the electricity network and the measures taken since 2019 to study the Turkish experience in these areas. 
Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Dönmez emphasized that the unity and brotherhood of the two countries contribute to peace and stability in the region and in the world,while joint energy projects, including TANAP to the energy security of Turkey and Europe.  According to him, thanks to TAP, the strategic importance of TANAP and Azerbaijani gas will further increase. Noting that the liberal power market has been applied in Turkey for years, a well-qualified and competitive system has been developed and the progress in the field of renewable energy was gained, Fatih Donmez said Turkey is ready to share its practice in this direction with Azerbaijan.   
Two-day seminar with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Energy Regulatory Agency under the Ministry and Azerbaijan Renewable Energy Agency, “Azerenergy” OJSC, “Azerishig” OJSC, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Turkey, Energy Market Regulatory Authority, Energy Exchange Istanbul and the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation, the sides exchanged views on the stages of transition to the liberal power market in Turkey, issues arising out of the transition and how to resolve them, the pricing, settlement between entities, balancing, the arrangement and management of service markets, the back-up mechanism, as well as the resolution of matters of the integration of renewable energy sources to the network, the impact of enlarged use of such energy sources on the market. 
It should be noted that by studying advanced international experience, making proposals for the gradual transition to the liberal market model based on competition in the field of energy were entrusted to  the Ministry of Energy with the Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan No 1209 dated May 29, 2019 “Accelerating reforms in the energy sector of the Republic of Azerbaijan".