BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 30. The World Bank is considering Azerigas Gas Leak Detection and Repair Facility in Azerbaijan, Trend reports via the Bank.
The development objective is to reduce fugitive methane emissions from the gas distribution network operated by Azerigas, and to strengthen Azerigas' asset management capacity.
Commitment amount is $15 million. The approval date is April 23, 2026.
The project will establish a recipient-executed financial Facility for gas leak detection and repair (LDAR) in the gas distribution system operated by Azerigas. The Facility will be launched with an initial grant from the Global Flaring and Methane Reduction Partnership (GFMR) trust fund. SOCAR will be the Recipient of the grant and the holder of grant and Facility accounts, and Azerigas will be the sole beneficiary of the grant and the implementing entity responsible for day-to-day implementation and project management. The money will be reallocated from SOCAR to Azerigas for agreed leak detection and repair activities to reduce fugitive emissions of methane on a rolling basis.
The project will build on learnings from Azerigas’ pilot gas leak baseline program in Baku. Repair activities will be proposed and implemented by Azerigas according to preliminary agreed eligibility criteria. Proposed activities will be prioritized based on cost, complexity, impact, and other relevant criteria to maximize the amount of emissions reduced per US$ deployed.In order to guarantee a longer term impact, a key aspect of the proposed financial Facility will be that majority of financial benefits resulting from gas savings as a consequence of leak repair will be re-invested into the Facility, so as to mobilize additional capital to further rehabilitate Azerigas assets.
Furthermore, the GFMR-funds initially and the Facility subsequently will be used to build capacity within Azerigas to carry out monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of emissions in line with the OGMP 2.0 standard.GFMR grant funding will enable activities that would otherwise not take place due to the strained and constrained financial situation of Azerigas, unlocking methane emission abatement action within the current decade.