Anar Karimov, Azerbaijan’s First Deputy Minister of Finance, met with Roger Coma Cunill, the World Bank’s senior energy specialists, together with Sameh Mobarek, new task team leader, Program Leader for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure for the South Caucasus, Europe and Central Asia (ECA).
The meeting featured discussions on the World Bank’s support for Azerbaijan regarding the implementation of the Azerbaijan Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Project (AZURE) project, as well as the results under the technical assistance carried out within the partnership between the Government of Azerbaijan and the World Bank.
Anar Karimov noted that over three decades of successful cooperation has enabled the World Bank to become one of Azerbaijan’s key development partners.
According to him, within this partnership, the strategically important AZURE project has made a significant contribution to strengthening the transmission network by ensuring the integration of 1 GW solar and wind power plants, built by Masdar company, into the national grid.
Highlighting the financing prospects of the Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) as part of the AZURE project, the deputy minister emphasized the importance of this initiative in enhancing grid flexibility, enabling broader integration of renewable energy sources, and strengthening overall grid resilience.
The World Bank representatives hailed the cooperation with Azerbaijan in the energy sector, adding that technical support would be continued in the areas of modernization of the electricity grid, tariff reforms, and development of offshore wind energy.
The sides also exchanged views on identifying priority investment directions for the next phase, developing renewable energy projects, and further expanding cooperation with the World Bank.
