BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 12. Azerbaijan's green energy policy opens up new options linking Caspian, Central Asia, and Europe, political analyst Azer Garayev told Trend.
According to Garayev, the 4th Climate Week, held in Baku from September 7 through 11, served as further evidence of Azerbaijan's growing role in the global climate agenda in recent years.
He said that one of the event's key messages was the need to accelerate the transition from climate commitments to concrete action. In this context, Climate Week wasn't merely an international discussion platform for Baku; it also provided an opportunity to showcase initiatives taking shape ahead of COP29 in 2024 and to highlight the next phase of Azerbaijan's green energy policy.
"Namely COP29 was one of pivotal starting points for strengthening Azerbaijan's position on the climate agenda. At the conference held in Baku in November 2024, an agreement was reached to increase climate finance for developing countries to $300 billion annually by 2035. Simultaneously, a call was made to scale up public and private financing from all sources to $1.3 trillion per year. Another significant outcome of COP29 was the agreement on key mechanisms for carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
However, in its post-COP29 activities, Azerbaijan is focusing not only on international climate diplomacy but also on transforming its own energy system. For many years, Azerbaijan has been known as an oil and gas exporter. Now, it is striving to develop 'green energy' alongside traditional energy by rapidly increasing the share of renewable sources in its energy strategy," he noted.
According to him, the figures illustrate the scale of this transformation.
"Azerbaijan's onshore technical potential for renewable energy sources is estimated at 135 GW. Meanwhile, the technical potential for offshore wind energy in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea stands at 157 GW. Currently, renewable energy plants with a total capacity of 2,070 MW are in operation across the country. Of this total, 1,443.5 MW comes from hydroelectric plants, 306.5 MW from wind, 278.2 MW from solar, 37 MW from bioenergy, and 7.3 MW from hybrid plants.
The targets for the coming years are even more ambitious. Based on signed projects, plans are in place to establish 6 GW of solar and wind energy capacity by 2030 and 8 GW by 2032. A target of 8 GW of renewable energy capacity has also been set for 2035, with the intention of utilizing this potential to meet both domestic demand and export needs," the analyst mentioned.
Garayev pointed out that a key aspect of this policy is transforming Karabakh and East Zangezur into a green energy zone.
"The restoration of the liberated territories is not limited merely to rebuilding infrastructure; alongside new settlements and industrial and agricultural facilities, a more resilient energy system is being established there. Hydropower, in particular, is a key area of focus for Karabakh and East Zangezur. Over the past five years, nearly 40 small hydroelectric power plants have been constructed in the region using state funds, with a combined capacity exceeding 300 MW. New projects in this sector are currently underway. In July 2026, the Aghbulag-1, Aghbulag-2, and Sheylanli hydropower plants—with a total capacity of 32.95 MW—were commissioned on the Hochaz river in Lachin. Plans are in place to further expand small-scale hydropower in the region and to harness a significant portion of this potential for electricity generation through future projects," he explained.
The analyst emphasized that one of the major advantages of Azerbaijan's green energy strategy is the creation of opportunities not only to generate electricity but also to export it to foreign markets. To this end, several regional energy corridors are being developed in parallel.
"One of the most significant of these is the Caspian Sea–Black Sea–Europe Green Energy Corridor. Also known as Black Sea Energy, this project envisages transporting Azerbaijan's renewable energy potential to Europe via Georgia and across the Black Sea. A key element of the project is an underwater electricity cable planned to be laid beneath the Black Sea. A strategic partnership agreement regarding this initiative was signed between Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, and Hungary in 2022.
The first and second phases of the project have been included in the 2026 development plan portfolio of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E). The project has now entered the development phase. Establishing this infrastructure is considered a key avenue for bringing Azerbaijani green energy to the European electricity market," he noted.
According to him, another important initiative is the Central Asia–Azerbaijan Green Energy Corridor. In 2024, within the framework of COP29, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan signed an agreement on a strategic partnership for the development and transmission of green energy. Subsequently, the operators of the three countries' energy systems has established a joint venture, and work on the project's feasibility study has commenced.
"The scope of this initiative extends across a broader geography. Central Asia's solar and wind energy potential could be transported to Azerbaijan via the Caspian Sea and subsequently to European markets through the South Caucasus and Türkiye. Thus, Azerbaijan is positioning itself not merely as an energy producer but as a key link in the transit of 'green energy' between Central Asia and Europe. The project's potential to create additional opportunities for developing energy connections along the Middle Corridor further enhances its strategic significance.
Furthermore, the electricity interconnection being established along the Azerbaijan–Georgia– Türkiye–Bulgaria route could expand the geographical reach of future energy exports. Rather than remaining isolated initiatives, these projects are gradually evolving into components of a unified regional energy network. This marks a fundamental shift in Azerbaijan's energy strategy: the country is no longer solely establishing export routes for oil and gas but is also building infrastructure for the future export of electricity—specifically green energy," the analyst said.
Garayev noted that the potential of the Caspian Sea warrants special attention within this process.
"The existence of a technical wind energy potential of 157 GW in Azerbaijan's sector of the Caspian Sea offers the country significant opportunities in the long term. Naturally, fully realizing this figure requires substantial investment in technology, infrastructure for the grid and exports, and other areas. However, it's precisely this potential that places Azerbaijan among the countries capable of becoming a major regional producer of green energy in the future.
On the other hand, simply building new power plants is not enough to integrate growing renewable energy capacities into the system; modernizing energy grids and establishing energy storage systems are also essential. Azerbaijan has already begun developing battery-based energy storage systems. This represents a crucial step toward managing the variability inherent in solar and wind energy generation," he noted.
The analyst stressed that, against the backdrop of Baku Climate Week, the path ahead for Azerbaijan is quite clear. While COP29 has secured the country a more prominent role in the global climate agenda, the next phase involves translating this political and diplomatic capital into concrete energy projectsş
"The creation of green energy zones in Karabakh and East Zangezur, the harnessing of the Caspian's wind potential, the rapid expansion of solar and wind power plants, the establishment of energy connections with Central Asia, and the development of routes to Europe via the Black Sea are ushering in a new phase in Azerbaijan's energy policy.
The defining characteristic of this phase is that Azerbaijan is shaping its energy map not merely around the resources it extracts, but also around the destinations and infrastructure used to deliver the electricity it generates. Thus, a new map is emerging within the country's energy strategy: 'green energy' links stretching from the Caspian to Karabakh, and from Central Asia to the Black Sea and on to Europe, are becoming the key projects that define Azerbaijan's future role in the energy sector," added Garayev.
