Azerbaijan plans wider European energy supplies and pipeline expansion

Azerbaijan plans to expand energy deliveries to Europe beyond the 10 EU countries it currently supplies, President Ilham Aliyev said at the ninth European Political Community Summit in Dublin. The plans include additional gas exports and renewable energy supplies.

Aliyev put gas shipments to the EU at 13 billion cubic meters, compared with 8 billion cubic meters previously, and said they represented nearly half of Azerbaijan’s exports. He said newly discovered fields would support plans for further increases.

The pipeline linking Baku and Italy through seven countries is operating at full capacity, Aliyev said. Azerbaijan intends to expand its capacity. The president also highlighted an agreement involving Georgia, Turkey and Bulgaria to export renewable energy to European markets.

Long-term energy contracts were discussed by Aliyev and European Council President Antonio Costa, according to Azerbaijan’s presidency. Costa welcomed the restart of negotiations for a new EU-Azerbaijan agreement and invited Aliyev to Brussels for further discussions.

Transport connections were another focus of the meeting. The two leaders said an EU assessment of the Nakhchivan railway project would be finished soon and discussed the Middle Corridor, which connects Asia and Europe through Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

In separate talks, Aliyev and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis discussed infrastructure upgrades for the Southern Gas Corridor. Discussions with Moldovan President Maia Sandu covered energy security, trade and agriculture.