BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 9. Azerbaijan and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) discussed the implementation of the 240 MW Khizi-Absheron Wind Power Plant (WPP) and Green Energy Corridor projects this week, Trend reports.
At the meeting between Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov and a delegation headed by EBRD First Vice President Jurgen Rigterink, the multilateral cooperation with the bank in the energy sector was highly appreciated, and the possibilities of expanding Azerbaijan-EBRD cooperation as well as projects implemented with the financial support of the bank were discussed.
During the meeting, it was also noted that European financial institutions are interested in participating in the Green Energy Corridor project supported by the European Commission and the prospects of expanding Azerbaijan-EBRD cooperation within the Southern Gas Corridor expansion project.
Besides, Azerbaijan and the Islamic Investment and Export Credit Insurance Corporation (ICIEC), which is part of the Islamic Development Bank Group, have discussed the development of the renewable energy sector.
bp has recently entered the next stage of development of the Shafag (Sunrise) project, which aims to build a 240-megawatt solar power plant in the liberated Jabrayil district.
This week, it was also noted that electricity exports from Russia to Azerbaijan are planned to amount to 300 million kWh annually from 2024 through 2029.
Meanwhile, EBRD said that it can provide financial products that are tailored to each project.
Moreover, during this week, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and Brookfield Asset Management, one of the largest investment companies in the world, have discussed the application of clean and digital energy technologies.
Insiders within Bulgaria's oil and gas industry were informed this week about SOCAR's commencement of gas sales in the country.
According to insider sources, SOCAR has officially entered the Bulgarian market since September 1 by leveraging the gas network of Türkiye and the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline.
The company is poised to provide Bulgaria with an annual gas supply of one billion cubic meters, mirroring the existing agreement with Azerbaijan Gas Supply Company Limited (AGSC) through the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector, which currently satisfies approximately 30 percent of the country's gas consumption.
This week, Moody's Investors Service (Moody's) upgraded the Baseline Credit Assessment (BCA) of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) to ba2 from ba3.
Moody's also shared its expectations that SOCAR will sustain its positive free cash flow (FCF) over the next 12–18 months.
Furthermore, Moody’s shared forecasts for SOCAR’s 2023–24 revenues.
Thus, the revenue is likely to moderate to 80 billion–90 billion manat ($47 billion–52.9 billion) a year in 2023–24 under Moody's oil price assumptions. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) will be around 10 billion manat ($5.8 billion) a year over the same period, lower than in 2022 but higher than in 2017–2021.
According to estimates from S&P Global Platts, Azerbaijan's oil production volume in August this year remained steady at 500,000 barrels per day, matching July's output.
Italy’s Saipem company said this week that it aims to complete the project with bp for Shah Deniz 2 in Azerbaijan by late 2023.
Meanwhile, the ICGB, the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) pipeline operator, noted that gas traders have expressed interest in up to four billion cubic meters per year of additional capacity for the next few gas years.
