BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 31. Azerbaijan offers significant potential for the development of both onshore and offshore wind energy and is an attractive country for experienced wind farm developers considering its abundant wind resources and consistent wind speeds. As well as increasing its own energy transition, Azerbaijan’s proximity to other major countries also offers opportunities to decarbonise industry through the electrification of their processes, the Director of Industrial Affairs at WindEurope, the European wind energy industry association, Phil Cole, told Trend.
"In addition, Azerbaijan is also in an excellent position to be able to learn from the mistakes that mature wind energy markets have made over the years and so will be able to avoid these in order to develop their significant wind resources at pace. Azerbaijan is well placed to spark interest in wind energy from other regional countries and lead the development of the technology in the region. WindEurope’s strategic priorities for supporting wind energy development in the Caspian region focus on leveraging the region’s abundant wind and wider renewable energy potential while also fostering economic, technological, and environmental benefits," he said.
Cole noted that the Azerbaijani government and industry face many challenges in developing onshore and offshore wind energy. Key tasks include setting up a fit-for-purpose auction design that combines cost considerations and qualitative criteria. It includes developing a maritime spatial plan and a grid development strategy. And it includes the simplification of wind energy permitting.
Speaking about the supply of electricity generated by wind farms to European buyers, he noted the possibility of implementing this through the Caspian-European "green" energy corridor, an underwater cable along the bottom of the Black Sea.
''Following the signing of the memorandum of understanding between WindEurope and the Azerbaijan Renewable Energy Agency in March 2024, we will support Azerbaijan as it looks to expand its wind energy potential through the sharing of best practice and pitfalls to avoid, advising on methods of onshore and offshore wind deployment and its experience of the European power purchase agreement market that the interconnector will rely on. In that sense, our support is regulatory advice,'' he added.
According to him, WindEurope will also continue to connect policymakers, regulators, and potential electricity off-takers in Azerbaijan and the EU to progress the project.