SOCAR Green: ‘Energy transition will be difficult for everyone’

Today, realizing the importance of the topic, everyone is talking about the energy transition, Elmir Musayev, Director of SOCAR Green, a subsidiary of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), said during his speech on the second day of the Baku Energy Forum, Report informs.

According to Elmir Musayev, this is not the first transition in the energy sector: "Society has made transitions from biomass to coal, from coal to oil, from oil to natural gas. And now the world is transitioning from natural gas to clean energy, that is green energy.

“We are living in a very important and difficult period in terms of benefiting our world: Of course, this transition will be difficult for everyone. However, each of us understands our role responsibility,” Musayev noted.

Recalling the project with a total capacity of 1 GW, which SOCAR jointly implemented with the UAE’s Masdar, Musayev said that this project was somewhat difficult because it was the first work for SOCAR Green:

"Perhaps, it is not difficult for Masdar and BP to implement such projects. However, SOCAR Green learns the experience of Masdar, BP and other companies. We train our employees."

He reminded that within the framework of this year's Baku Energy Week, SOCAR signed agreements on three more renewable energy projects with the Masdar company: "We will have three more projects. We understand the essence of what we do and we are interested in providing benefits to society."

These agreements cover the construction of one wind and two solar power plants in Azerbaijan.

The first of these is the 445 MW solar power project in Bilasuvar, the second is another 315 MW solar power project in Neftchala, and the third is the 240 MW Absheron-Garadagh wind power project.

As a result of the implementation of the projects, approximately 2.3 billion kWh of electricity will be saved annually, which will prevent the emission of approximately 1 million tons of carbon annually.