Historic Agreement in Baku

During the meeting organized for the Southern Gas Corridor, TEİAŞ and AzerEnerji also signed an operating agreement on electricity transmission. The agreement will modernize the existing electricity transmission infrastructure between Türkiye and Nakhchivan and expand the existing capacity. The interconnection line, which has an import capacity of 75 MW and an export capacity of 40 MW, will be utilized in the most efficient way. Last month, the Igdir-Nahcivan Natural Gas Pipeline was opened and Nakhchivan was supplied with uninterrupted natural gas.

Southern Gas Corridor

The 11th Advisory Board of the Southern Gas Corridor and the 3rd Ministerial Meeting of the Green Energy Advisory Council were held in Baku. The meeting was opened by the President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev and the ministerial session started after the speech of Dan Jorgensen, EU Commissioner for Energy and Housing and Co-Chair of the Advisory Council. Minister Bayraktar made a speech here and explained Türkiye's energy vision.

Importance of Dialogue

Stating that the high-level participation in the meeting indicates the commitment of the countries in the region to energy security, Bayraktar said that recent international developments have once again demonstrated the importance of regional and global dialogue for energy supply security. 

Green Economy

Bayraktar stated that the Southern Gas Corridor has an important role in ensuring long-term energy cooperation and said, “Almost all of the participants here have ambitious plans for the green economy. As Türkiye, we are ready to expand our cooperation in this context.”

12 Billion Cubic Meters Target

Stating that Türkiye has increased its supply security in natural gas with various infrastructure projects in recent years, Bayraktar said, “We are currently able to import half of our gas needs in liquefied form thanks to our investments in transmission and storage capacity as well as regasification terminals. We have also increased our gas storage capacity to 6 billion cubic meters. We aim to increase it to 12 billion cubic meters in the next 5 years.”

2035 Road Map

Bayraktar reminded that at the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Baku last year, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan set the target of increasing the installed capacity in wind and solar power to 120 gigawatts by 2035, and stated that they meet the needs of 3.5 million houses with the production in the Sakarya Gas Field in the Black Sea. Bayraktar noted that the daily oil production from the Şırnak-Gabar field has reached 80 thousand barrels and stated that they are working for new discoveries.

An Important Step

Emphasizing that as a country connecting energy-rich regions, they want to develop regional cooperation, Bayraktar said: “We continue to diversify our supply, especially in the field of natural gas. Starting on March 1, our natural gas imports from Turkmenistan are an important step towards the goal of securing our own supply while at the same time bringing Central Asian energy resources to European markets. The fact that we are supplying piped gas for the first time from a country with which we have no border is a milestone in terms of diversification and competitive gas supply.”

Meeting with Aliyev

Following the meeting, Minister Bayraktar was received by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. During the meeting, energy cooperation between the two countries was discussed.

Electricity Agreement

After the meeting, there was a new development regarding Nakhchivan, which has a historical and strategic importance in the South Caucasus. At a ceremony attended by Minister Bayraktar and Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Perviz Shahbazov, an operation agreement was signed between TEİAŞ and AzerEnerji.

Uninterrupted and Reliable

Accordingly, uninterrupted and reliable electricity transmission will be ensured between Türkiye and its border neighbor Nakhchivan. Nakhchivan's energy supply security will be enhanced and regional electricity trade will be strengthened. 

Capacity to be Expanded

Under the agreement, the existing electricity transmission infrastructure between Türkiye and Nakhchivan will be modernized and the existing capacity will be expanded. The most efficient use of the interconnection line, which has an import capacity of 75 MW and an export capacity of 40 MW, will be ensured.

Round Table Meeting

Following the signing ceremony, the 2nd Ministerial Meeting of the Green Electricity Transmission and Trade Project between the Governments of Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Georgia and Bulgaria was held. In addition to Minister Bayraktar, Azerbaijan's Minister of Energy Perviz Shahbazov, Bulgaria's Minister of Energy Zhecho Stankov and Georgia's Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Vakhtang Tsintsadze attended the roundtable.

4 Ministers Signed

At the roundtable meeting, the first concrete step was taken to connect the 4 countries with new interconnection lines, which was agreed at the Istanbul Energy Forum on November 22, 2024. 4 ministers signed the “Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Green Electricity Transmission and Trade”.

Green Electricity Transmission and Trade Project

With this memorandum of understanding, the Green Electricity Transmission and Trade Project, through which electricity generated from renewable energy sources between the 4 countries will be transmitted to different geographies and traded, has been realized. 

Strategic Advantages

The project will provide benefits in many areas such as increasing energy supply security, synchronizing voltage and frequency, more efficient operation of generation facilities close to full capacity, and improving generation and transmission infrastructure. Strategic advantages will be brought from energy security of the region to more efficient use of infrastructure, economic efficiency and sustainability.

New Line in Electricity Transmission

Türkiye, which is in a strategic position with the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum Natural Gas Pipeline (BTE), Igdir-Nahcivan Natural Gas Pipeline and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Crude Oil Pipeline (BTC), will deepen its relations with Azerbaijan in electricity transmission and contribute to Europe's supply security with this new line.