A conference on renewable energy was organized by the Ministry of Energy within the Global Exhibition Expo 2020 Dubai: Connecting Minds and Creating the Future in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. At the event aiming to attract foreign investment in the green energy sector in Azerbaijan, the investors participating in the exhibition were informed about the renewable energy potential of our country, strategic targets in the field, work done to improve the legislative framework, and opportunities provided for cooperation with the private sector.
Making a welcoming speech, Deputy Minister of Energy Elnur Soltanov said that multilateral cooperation involving the public and private sectors, financial institutions, international organizations and other stakeholders is of great importance during this period, in which challenges for energy and environmental security confront the energy sector with urgent changes. The Deputy Minister informed the participants of the event that Azerbaijan has appeared with a new target and undertaken additional voluntary obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 by 40 percent at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26). He stated that one of the strategic targets, which reflects the views of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev based on clear, long-term sustainable development, is to increase the share of renewable energy in the total installed capacity of our country in electricity to 30% over the next decade. It was noted that one of the main priorities for achieving this goal, which involves the commissioning of new production capacities of 1,500 MW, is the attraction of private, as well as foreign investment in this area.
Then, the employees of the Ministry of Energy demonstrated a video and made a presentation on the support mechanisms for promoting the green electricity generation in our country, regulatory documents to attract investment, information on renewable energy auctions to be organized in the near future. It was noted that our territories liberated from Armenian occupation have been declared a green energy zone, and that a comprehensive concept project has been developed to establish this zone by involving Japanese company TEPSCO and the relevant Master Plan is in progress. It was underlined that the targets and plans for the maximum use of green energy in Karabakh and East Zangazur further expand the opportunities for cooperation with the private sector.
Representatives of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), bp, ACWA Power and Masdar made presentations on the current investment environment in the field of renewable energy in Azerbaijan, and gave detailed information on utility-scale wind and solar energy projects planned to be implemented at the expense of private investment in our country.
At the last session of the event, the speakers answered the questions of the participants on the topic.
After the two-hour conference, along with the participants of the event, the Azerbaijani Pavilion Seeds of the Future, covering an area of more than 2000 square meters, was visited and information about our country was provided through technological flowers, technological forest consisting of five digital trees, multifunctional interactive table installation and other innovative technologies.
Within the event, bilateral meetings were held and discussions were made on issues of mutual interest with representatives of a number of companies.
