IRENA director general hails cooperation with Azerbaijan in green energy as 'very good'

The cooperation between the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) with Azerbaijan is very good, Francesco La Camera, the agency director general told Report.

"We also have plan for the COP 29. They (the government of Azerbaijan - ed.) will contribute and will be the co-author of our tracking reports. They also are ready to launch with us the Asean Centralized initiative with Azerbaijan leading this group of countries towards a green energy system promoting interconnectivity. It will be an initiative of the government together with IRENA. Then the partners will come and surely the ADB will be part of it," he said,

The director general who came to Baku for the Baku Energy Week applauded the signing of an agreement between the UAE and Azerbaijan in 1 GW of renewable energy sources calling it a landmark event.

"Yesteday was a special day for the participants of the week. I also really liked how President Ilham Aliyev spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony for these stations. He referred to the contract that was signed 30 years ago and opened access for Azerbaijani oil and gas to the world market. He then emphasized that the country is increasingly focusing on using clean energy, which significantly strengthens its commitments and dedication to transitioning to an energy system independent of fossil fuels," La Camera said.

He said it is his second visit to Baku in a year:

"I've been to Baku three times, with two times this year because we wished to meet with the COP29 presidency minister of energy and all the concerned actors to come with something solid altogether," La Camera said.

According to him, the Baku Energy Week is an excellent format for sharing experiences and cooperation, which brings together governments and private sector companies.

"So it's the best way to have a frank dialogue, learn from each other, also be up to date on what is happening around. So, I think that they found a good formula for having any form of successful and also the environment of the organization is very high level," La Camera said.