Page 7 - bne monthly magazine June 2024 Russian Despair Index

bne June 2024 Companies & Markets I 7
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan join forces to power Europe
Seymur Mammadov in Baku
The energy components of the Trans-Caspian and Middle Corridors are expanding, not only through
oil and gas but also through green energy. In early
May, a very important document was signed in Tashkent:
a memorandum of cooperation in the field of integrating
the power systems of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The three countries have joined forces to produce green energy and exporting it to Europe.
The memorandum implies that the parties intend to explore the possibilities of connecting their power systems by laying a high-voltage cable along the bottom of the Caspian Sea and through the territories of other countries to enable optimal technical and economic trade of green energy produced in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
A project technical specification for laying a deep-sea cable along the Caspian seabed has already been developed. Within the framework of this specification, a proposed business model for the development of international transmission corridors (financing, revenue stream, and ownership) will be created for selling green energy to
EU member states. This project forms the basis of the memorandum of cooperation on the inter-system connection of the energy systems of the three countries.
Underwater cable
The idea of laying an underwater power cable became possible after the adoption of the Caspian Sea Convention in 2018. This so-called "Caspian Constitution" stipulates that "the routing of underwater cables and pipelines must be coordinated with the party through whose seabed sector the cable or pipeline is to be laid." In November 2019, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan announced the start of laying the TransCaspian Fibre Optic (TCFO) line across the bottom of the Caspian Sea. According to forecasts from the Kazakh side, this cable will connect China and the EU via the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan.
Now, it is time for the deep-sea electric cable. Last year, negotiations took place between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan join forces to develop green energy which they will sell to Europe via new under sea cables. / bne IntelliNews
and after a meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council in Baku in February of last year, a new direction was introduced: exporting green energy by Azerbaijan and its partners to Europe. The Tashkent memorandum is a natural consequence of these developments, as is the agreement reached in November 2023 by Baku, Tashkent and Astana
to create a joint venture to export green energy to Europe.
The resources derived from the inter-system connection of the energy systems of the three countries will travel
a considerable distance to Europe and significantly alter the energy balance in the region.
“The resources derived from the inter-system connection of the energy systems of the three countries will travel a considerable distance to Europe and significantly alter the energy balance in the region”
Earlier an agreement on the implementation of the Black Sea Energy project between Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary was signed in December 2022 in Bucharest. It involves laying a 1-GW underwater cable stretching 1,195 km – 95 km of the cable will be overland and 1,100 km underwater.
This cable will be designated for transporting green electricity produced in Azerbaijan through Georgia and the Black Sea to Romania for further transmission to Hungary and the rest of Europe. Initially, the plans were agreed between the EU and Georgia, with Azerbaijan joining later, expanding the project to potentially include the export of electricity from Central Asian countries as well.
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