BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 21. The UK is glad to see bp expanding into Azerbaijan's renewable energy sector, Kenan Poleo, HM Trade Commissioner for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, told Trend.
"In this regard, we welcome the agreement on the implementation of a 240 MW solar power plant project in Azerbaijan's Jabrayil district, and look forward to its finalization," he said.
As Poleo noted, over the thirty years of bilateral relations, the UK has been the single largest foreign direct investor in Azerbaijan, while bp alone has invested $84 billion in the Azerbaijani economy.
"I also hope the Government will make the best use of the masterplan developed by bp, which includes recommendations and proposals for decarbonization," Poleo added.
According to the trade commissioner, Azerbaijan has great renewable energy potential, and this is the area where the UK-Azerbaijan energy cooperation should be expanded sooner.
"There are already over 40 British companies with clean energy capability on the ground. They know the market and have the expertise to help Azerbaijan deliver its renewable energy targets. We have hosted our first energy transition conference, where we invited leading companies from the UK to speak about clean growth, offshore wind and decarbonization. This clearly shows UK companies are interested in the Azerbaijani market and are ready to provide their products and services whenever and wherever needed," he noted.
In June 2022, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Energy and bp signed an Addendum to the Implementation Agreement that they had previously signed in June 2021 committing them to work together to take the next steps toward joint implementation of a 240MW AC solar power plant in the Jabrayil district.
The new document represents the next step to finalize the joint work toward the realization of the solar project, named "Shafag" (Sunrise).
It is the parties’ plan to achieve an effective technical and commercial solution to the project implementation by piloting a commercial structure called a “Virtual Power Transfer Arrangement”. This will enable the project to produce solar power in the Jabrayil district and sell it in another part of the country to either public or private off-takers.