BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 2. Green corridor initiatives from Caucasus and Central Asia to Europe will require substantial investments, Trend reports via Moody’s.
The rating agency recalls that at the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) in November 2024, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan signed a strategic partnership to develop the Caspian Green Energy Corridor. This project aims to connect Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Türkiye (Ba3 stable) and the European Union (Aaa stable) by transporting wind and solar-generated energy across the Caspian Sea via a proposed 400 kilometer submarine cable linking Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.
“The project is currently undergoing a feasibility study, supported by ADB and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (Aaa stable). A key component of this project is a link to the planned Black Sea submarine cable — a 1,200 kilometer high voltage interconnector— that will enable Azerbaijan and Georgia to transport electricity generated from renewable sources to Europe. The project follows a strategic agreement that Hungary (Baa2 negative), Romania (Baa3 negative), Georgia and Azerbaijan signed in December 2022. The four countries have since established the Green Energy Corridor Power Company to oversee implementation,” reads the latest report released by Moody’s.
The European Commission committed €2.3 billion toward the estimated €3.8 billion cost of the Black Sea submarine cable project, with commissioning targeted for 2029.
“While these initiatives hold significant promise for potentially exporting solar and wind energy to Europe, they will require substantial investment,” says the report.