Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed a founding agreement as part of the project to establish green energy corridor to Europe, the Ministry of Energy announced.
The agreement was signed by the operators of the three countries' main power grids — Azerbaijan’s Azerenerji, Kazakhstan’s KEGOC and Uzbekistan’s National Electric Grid — via video conference on 27 December.
The document aims to implement the agreement reached by presidents of three nations on 13 November and to expand opportunities for electricity trade, taking into account new initiatives such as the European Union’s Green deal (a plan to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and total environmental pollution by 2050).
The parties agreed to establish a joint venture in Baku, Azerbaijan, to carry out the project. The Italian company CESI will act as a consultant and develop the project’s feasibility study.
Starting in 2030, Uzbekistan plans to export surplus green electricity generated within the country to Europe via Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.
In July, governments of Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan signed a protocol in Astana, Kazakhstan on the Central Asia-Azerbaijan-Europe green energy corridor project. A memorandum on cooperation for the integration of energy systems was signed in the spring during an investment forum in Tashkent.
Azerbaijan intends to lay a cable along the bottom of the Black Sea to connect Central Asia, the Caucasus, Europe and the Caspian and Black Sea regions into a single energy corridor.
On 6 November, deputy minister of energy of Uzbekistan Umid Mamadaminov stated during the European Economy Days in Tashkent that by 2030 Uzbekistan will have the capacity to export 10−15 billion kWh of electricity annually.
“It is projected that in 2030, electricity demand [in Uzbekistan] will be around 120−125 billion kWh. We have many generation facilities — approximately 135 billion kWh. All surplus capacity will be exported to Europe once the infrastructure is ready,” he noted at the time.
In August, minister of energy Jurabek Mirzamahmudov said that the volume of electricity exports to European countries “will depend on the cable’s capacity and the partners' willingness”. The minister emphasized that Uzbekistan fully meets its domestic electricity demand and is therefore prepared to supply between 2 and 5 GW of energy to Europe.
