Hungary will join a large-scale project to transport green electricity from Azerbaijan to the country and the European market, Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó announced on Wednesday after a discussion with Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov.
Azerbaijan has a significant untapped potential for renewable energy, which could make the country an essential partner for Europe in the export of electricity generated from green energy sources.
According to the project, Azerbaijan will produce large volumes of green electricity, which will be delivered through a fibre-optic cable through Azerbaijan and Georgia along the bottom of the Black Sea to Romania. Romania was invited to participate in the project back in March.
“Today we agreed that Hungary will join this large-scale plan as the project could receive EU support only if the participation of at least two EU member states is granted,” underlined the Hungarian minister. “Thus, green electricity can be transported to our country, which we can use and transport further towards the European market.”
The minister emphasised that although it will take three to four years to implement the investment, once it’s done it would strengthen energy supply, integrate a new supply source into the energy mix and bring us closer to our net-zero goals.
In the context of the current energy supply crisis, triggered by the war in Ukraine Europe needs new energy supply sources more than ever, pointed out the minister noting that Azerbaijan is one of the most promising candidates that could come to Europe’s rescue.
The EU opened a new chapter in its energy cooperation with Azerbaijan in July when they signed a new energy agreement that could support Brussel’s efforts to move away from Russian fossil fuels. European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen underlined that besides securing stable and reliable gas supplies to the EU via the Southern Gas Corridor, the new agreement also lays the foundations of a long-term partnership on energy efficiency and clean energy.
