By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan plans to double natural gas exports to Europe, President Ilham Aliyev said, Azernews reports.

“The memorandum of understanding between the European Union and Azerbaijan on strategic cooperation in the energy field is a road map of our future activities. We plan to double natural gas exports to Europe,” he wrote on his official Twitter page.

Noting that TANAP’s capacity is 16 billion cubic meters, the president emphasized that there are plans to bring it to 32 billion cu. m.

Ilham Aliyev added that TAP’s capacity is 10 billion cubic meters and it currently operates at full capacity.

“We must expand its capacity up to at least 20 billion cubic meters. It requires additional finances. As a country and investor, we are ready. However, other members of our team must also participate,” he wrote.

Moreover, the president mentioned that Azerbaijan’s energy strategy incorporates three phases. He added that in the initial phase of 1994, Azerbaijan was the first country to invite major world energy companies to operate in the Caspian Sea basin.

“We became an exporter of oil to Europe, primarily Italy. Being a landlocked country, we led the process of changing Eurasia’s energy map by building two strategic oil pipelines, and achieved the diversification of supply on the global market,” he wrote.

He added that the second phase was related to the development of huge gas fields.

“An integrated system of 3,500 km of oil pipelines reaching Italy was created to deliver gas to the European market. In a year and a half, 13.5 billion cubic meters of gas have been exported to Europe, 11.7 billion of that volume to Italy. This year we plan to increase the volume and supply the Italian market with 10 billion cubic meters of gas. Our total export will be over 22 billion cubic meters and there is a great potential for growth,” he wrote.

Speaking about the third phase, Ilham Aliyev stated that it is related to investment in renewables.

“We started this process several years ago. Today we talk about the ways of delivering electricity to Europe and other destinations,” he wrote.

On July 18, Azerbaijan and the European Commission signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic cooperation in the energy sector. The document was signed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The EU and Azerbaijan are in active dialogue on increasing gas supplies amid the energy crisis. The EU-Azerbaijan energy cooperation has reached a new level and is still ongoing within the framework of the Southern Gas Corridor. The EU places a high value on energy supply diversification, and the Southern Gas Corridor is particularly important in this regard.

To recall, with the completion of the TAP (Trans-Adriatic Pipeline) construction on December 31, 2020, Azerbaijan began commercial gas supplies to Europe via the Southern Gas Corridor. The SGC is an initiative of the European Commission for a natural gas supply route from the Caspian and Middle Eastern regions to Europe. The route from Azerbaijan to Europe consists of the South Caucasus Pipeline, TANAP, and TAP.

Last year, TAP transported 8.1 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe. By late 2022, Azerbaijan plans to increase gas supplies to Europe to 9.1 billion cubic meters, and in 2023, the volume of gas supplies is expected to reach 11 billion cubic meters.