Equinor eyes for cooperation in renewable energy

By Azernews

By Leman Mammadova

Norwegian energy company Equinor is pleased with long-term cooperation with Azerbaijan and is interested in cooperation in the field of renewable energy.

Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov has met with Tore Loseth, Equinor’s Vice President for Exploration, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan within the 26th International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition.

At the meeting, Loseth expressed content with Equinor’s participation in the development of such Azerbaijani fields as Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG), Karabakh, Ashrafi, Dan Ulduzu, Aypara as well as with long-term cooperation with Azerbaijan.

The vice president also informed about measures envisaged for the renewable energy sector as a new direction of cooperation along with oil and gas projects.

Shahbazov, in turn, highly appreciated Equinor’s activities in Azerbaijan and said that there are opportunities for expanding cooperation in the field of renewable energy sources.

The minister gave information about the measures to be taken to develop the renewable energy sector and promote investment in this sphere.

In his words, the draft projects prepared by the international consultant company, including the law on the use of renewable energy sources in the power generation, an exemplary energy purchase and sale agreement, and regulations on connection of renewable energy sources to the electricity grid have been submitted to the Energy Ministry and currently discussions are underway.

The sides also exchanged views on the work done as well as on the plans within the memorandum signed in February this year.

In February 2019, Ministry of Energy and Equinor signed a memorandum of understanding envisaging the development, financing and implementation of the alternative energy projects in Azerbaijan.

The parties together will assess the potential of renewable energy sources in Azerbaijan, form common principles for the use of alternative energy and consider areas of cooperation to create conditions for investment.

Equinor plans to invest more in alternative energy projects in the future, and it is expected that by 2030, up to 15 percent of investments will be directed to renewable energy projects.

Azerbaijan strongly cooperates with Equinor especially in the development of hydrocarbon fields.

The company owns 7.27 percent of the ACG bloc development project in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea and 8.71 percent in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC), the main export route for ACG oil.

In addition, as of May 30, 2018, Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR and Equinor signed two important agreements. The first agreement is a risk-service agreement on the Karabakh field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, while the second agreement is a production sharing and exploration agreement on the Dan Ulduzu, Ashrafi and Aypara promising structures. Equinor and SOCAR hold equal shares in the project on development of Karabakh field.