Azerbaijan's Energy Ministry, WB, EU deepen joint effort to scale up energy efficiency

The Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan, the European Union (EU) and the World Bank (WB) came together to deepen the dialogue on the operational structure and business activities of the Energy Efficiency Fund and key findings of the National Renovation Program (NRP) Roadmap for Renovation of private and public buildings in Azerbaijan under the Azerbaijan Rapid Technical Assistance Facility (AZTAF) program funded by the EU and implemented by the World Bank, Azernews reports.

This technical assistance supports operationalizing an Energy Efficiency (EE) Fund, strengthening the EE policy environment, and identifying investment opportunities for EE interventions. In addition, it helps the government prepare a comprehensive set of actions to support the renovation of private and public buildings to improve energy performance.

In their opening remarks, Peter Michalko, EU Ambassador, Nargiz Baghirli, Acting Head of the Department of Energy Efficiency of the Ministry of Energy, Saida Baghirli, Task Team Leader of the AZTAF program, and Yasemin Orucu, Team Leader of Energy Efficiency and Climate Technical Assistance under the AZTAF program at the World Bank, said that cooperation among these three organisations has been instrumental in achieving the objectives of this component of AZTAF and preparing Azerbaijan for the full operationalization of the EE Fund and associated policy and investment decisions.

This event, the final in a series of workshops planned under the “Energy Efficiency and Climate” Technical Assistance of AZTAF program, sought to present draft findings of the project and collect feedback from various stakeholders. During the event, it was noted that buildings are a major consumer of energy, and their renovation offers one of the most effective ways to improve energy efficiency. The draft roadmap developed under the AZTAF program outlines a comprehensive plan to renovate both private and public buildings, incorporating the latest technologies and best practices.

Given the critical role of energy efficiency in the building sector which is important not only for meeting national objectives as stated in the country’s 2030 agenda but also for improving the urban environment and living standards of Azerbaijan's citizens, the World Bank is conducting a “EE potential in public buildings” market survey as a prelude to the development of a Roadmap for the National Renovation Program.

AZTAF is a three-year program with a total budget of Euro 5.25 million funded by the EU and implemented by the World Bank. Its objective is to provide advisory and analytical support and capacity building to the Government of Azerbaijan in line with the Azerbaijan 2030 National Priorities and National Socio-Economic Development Strategy for 2022-2026.