European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced, on Monday 18 July during a joint press conference in Baku, that they had reached a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to double Azerbaijan’s fossil gas imports to the European Union within a few years.
The announcement is part of the EU’s efforts to diversify its gas supply sources since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in order to move away from its energy dependence on Russia.
Through this agreement, both parties commit to increasing the capacity of the Southern European Gas Corridor from 8 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year to 20 bcm by 2027, with an intermediate target of 12 bcm from next year.
“This will help compensate for cuts in supplies of Russian gas and contribute significantly to Europe’s security of supply”, Ms von der Leyen said.
Recalling the climate objectives of the Paris Agreement, the MoU also contains provisions on renewable energy.
According to the Commission President, the EU and Azerbaijan are thus laying “the ground for solid cooperation” on offshore wind and renewable hydrogen.
“Gradually, Azerbaijan will evolve from being a fossil fuel supplier to becoming a very reliable and prominent renewable energy partner to the European Union”, she added.
While the MoU sets out commitments to reduce methane emissions throughout the gas supply chain, Azerbaijan has not yet ratified the international commitment initiated by the EU and the US on this issue (see EUROPE 12975/27).
See the Memorandum of Understanding: https://aeur.eu/f/2og (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)