EU closes an agreement with Azerbaijan on gas supply until 2027

The EU ratified the agreement with Azerbaijan to double the supply of gas until 2027, from the 8,100 million cubic meters supplied in 2021 through the southern gas corridor, which connects the country with the community market through Turkey.

“This is an important supply route for the EU that currently supplies 8,100 million cubic meters of gas per year. We will expand its capacity to 20,000 million cubic meters per year in the coming years,” said the president of the Community Executive, Urusula von der Leyen after signing the agreement in Baku together with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.

Von der Leyen explained that the objective is to increase the supply of gas from the Caucasus country to 12,000 million cubic meters this year, a strategy with which the EU seeks to compensate for gas supply cuts from Russia and improve energy security in the Community market.

This memorandum of understanding involves the expansion of the southern gas corridor, which has been connecting Azerbaijan with the Western Balkans since 2011, and includes the trans-Adriatic gas pipeline.

“The southern gas corridor is a 3,500-kilometre-long integrated gas pipeline system that brings gas to the mainland. This corridor has been operating at full capacity for less than two years,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.

Break dependency on fossil fuels

This agreement is part of the plan of the Community Executive, Repower EU, which seeks to break Russia’s dependence on fossil fuels in 2030.

“We will invest 60 million euros of European funds in Azerbaijan until 2024,” explained Von der Leyen, an investment that he estimates will mobilize an additional 2,000 million euros in investment, since, according to the president of the Community Executive, the EU it is the first trading partner of Azerbaijan as well as its main export destination.

The memorandum of understanding also contains an agreement to promote the renewable energy market in the Caucasian country, especially in offshore wind power and hydrogen, according to the president of the European Commission.

“Azerbaijan will go from being a supplier of fossil fuels to a partner in renewable energy for the EU,” said Von der Leyen, who added to this commitment the reduction of methane emissions throughout the gas supply chain.

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Source: dpa