Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov attended the Gastech 2021 in Dubai

At the invitation of the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure of the United Arab Emirates Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, the Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov attended the Gastech 2021 exhibition and conference being held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 21-23 September this year with the participation of more than 300 high-ranking officials, including politicians, businessmen and experts. The minister made a speech at the Ministerial Panel on "Policy to Support the Rapid Expansion of the Hydrogen Supply Chain". The Minister of Energy stressed that climate change is a reality contributing to the global energy transition and highlighted the importance of urgently expanding the use of green energy to achieve a balance between energy security and environmental security. It was noted that the effectiveness of the energy transition process necessitates a broad dialogue between energy producers and consumers.

Minister Parviz Shahbazov also spoke about the measures taken in our country in connection with the energy transition process, projects and prospects in the field of renewable energy: "The goal of Azerbaijan, which is an exporter of traditional energy resources, is to bring the share of renewable energy in total installed capacity of electricity to 30% by 2030. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev defined the achieving a "clean environment" and becoming a "green growth" country by 2030 as one of five National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development, which is an indication of our strong commitment to energy transition.

It was also noted that investment and implementation agreements with leading international wind and solar energy companies have been signed in Azerbaijan recently, and auctions for renewable energy are planned to be held in the near future.

Within the event, the Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov also took part in the Gastech Awards 2021, where the Trans-Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP) was named the winner in "Gas, LNG, or Hydrogen Project of the Year” category.

A number of meetings were held during the visit. At a meeting between the Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan and the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure of the United Arab Emirates Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, bilateral and multilateral effective partnerships in the energy sector were discussed. The minister assessed the implementation of the project for the construction of a solar power plant with Masdar as an indicator of confidence in the business environment in Azerbaijan. He expressed the hope that other UAE companies specializing in sustainable and modern energy, following this tradition, will invest in relevant areas in Azerbaijan.

At bilateral meetings with Muhammad Abunayan, Chairman of the Board of ACWA Power and Muhammad Jamel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar the implementation of solar and wind power projects was discussed.

The Minister also met with Joseph McMonigle, the Secretary General of the International Energy Forum and Udaya Gammanpila, the Minister of Energy of Sri Lanka and gave an interview to CNN.   Answers were given to questions on the future of the oil and gas industry, trends shaping the energy sector in the next decade, energy transition initiatives in Azerbaijan and other topics.

It should be noted that the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan was also represented at the Gastech exhibition with a large stand.

The Gastech exhibition and conference, which is the world’s foremost gas, LNG, hydrogen, and energy event, brought together experts from the global energy industry, for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began.