By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan has enough gas reserves to meet the needs of EU countries, Azernews reports, citing what acting SOCAR President Rovshan Najaf has said at the 27th Baku Energy Forum.

He underlined that the current infrastructure doesn’t allow supplying liquid natural gas to the EU markets in the required volumes.

Noting that in recent years, investments in this sector decreased compared to the oil industry, Najaf added that work is underway to attract financial organizations to invest in and expand the pipeline infrastructure of Azerbaijan.

“Besides, it is needed to attract players being ready to support gas production in our country. In the coming years, the demand for natural gas will grow. SOCAR and its partners will increase natural gas production. We have plans, conduct negotiations, and technical work in this direction,” he said.

He also added that the process of transformation in the direction of green energy in SOCAR was launched in 2021 and a corresponding program that will run until 2035 was prepared.

“The oil and gas resources will be in demand for at least another 10 years. Besides, our company is working on alternative energy projects,” he said.

In this regard, he stressed that the implementation of these projects will help reduce the consumption of gas and make it available for export.

“The company is also working on digitalization. The main ones are activities in the direction of renewable energy. By the end of this year, it’s planned to implement a number of projects,” he said.

Moreover, Deputy Energy Minister Elnur Soltanov stated that Azerbaijan is planning to turn the liberated territories into a green zone in accordance with the development strategy of the country.

Noting that all power plants to be built in the liberated territories will operate on renewable energy sources, Soltanov added that the relevant work has already begun to achieve the goals.

Recalling that 25 percent of Azerbaijan's water resources are located in the Karabakh region, the deputy minister noted that it is planned to restore and build 45 small hydroelectric power plants, four of which have been restored, and another five are planned to be restored by the end of the year.

"Besides, it’s planned to attract private investments to restore 18 stations. The activities are underway to synchronize power transmission lines," he concluded.