Talks on the Green Corridor
The project of the so-called Green Corridor, which will supply the European Union with energy produced in the Caspian Sea, is reporting good progress.
Bogdan Matei, 04.09.2024, 14:00
The Romanian national energy carrier Transelectrica and counterpart companies from Georgia, Azerbaijan and Hungary have signed an association agreement for the “Green Energy Corridor Power Company”, based in Romania. The company will seek to implement the Green Energy Corridor project, namely a high-voltage underwater cable that will connect, via the Black Sea, Romania and Georgia, the connection being extended to Hungary and Azerbaijan. The eighth ministerial meeting of the Green Corridor project, held on Tuesday in Bucharest, approved the feasibility study prior to the implementation of the project. The Green Corridor is endorsed by the European Commission, and the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, attended the signing of the agreement between the parties in December 2022. “This strategic project will help consolidate national and regional energy security, increase connectivity in the Black Sea basin and capitalize on the potential of renewable energy. At the same time, we agreed on the possibility of adding to the feasibility study a new component, namely an optical fiber cable that will connect the four countries, contributing to the improvement of data flows and supporting the digitization of the region. Over the next period, we will also analyze the possibility of Bulgaria joining this infrastructure project, the approach being also open to our brothers across the Prut” (the Republic of Moldova e.n.), Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja said.
His counterpart from Azerbaijan, Parviz Shahbazov, thanked the European Union for supporting the project as early as its early foundations, thanks to which more renewable energy produced in the Caspian Sea area will reach Europe. Baku wants to interconnect this corridor with another one, which involves ex-Soviet states in Central Asia, such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the Azeri official said. In turn, the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Levan Davitashvili, pointed out that this project can contribute to the energy security of the European Union and is key to having a competitive energy market. The representative of Hungary, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Peter Szijjarto, stated that this infrastructure project needs to be completed as soon as possible. “We will break world records, considering the length of the submarine cable will be approximately 1,200 kilometers – a cable like no other has ever been built” – the Hungarian Foreign Minister added. (VP)
