Kazakh-Azeri-Uzbek venture planned to sell green energy to Europe

Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan have agreed to set up a joint venture to export green electricity to Europe, the Uzbek government said.

The agreement between the countries’ economy and energy ministers was signed in Baku on

14 November, the Uzbek Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade said in a statement.

The project will involve building a trans-Caspian underwater electric cable, according to the Azeri independent analytical information service STEM.    

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan joining forces with Azerbaijan to sell green energy to Europe signals a strengthening of Turkic cooperation and underlines the significance of the Middle Corridor, STEM said in a Telegram post.

Uzbek Industry Minister Laziz Kudratov said the project would stimulate the growth of the national renewable energy sector. Uzbekistan plans to increase the share of renewable electricity in its overall production to 40 percent by 2030.

All three countries have a huge potential for producing solar and wind energy.

The EU is in search of new energy suppliers to replace Russia. The European countries are also under pressure to find sources of clean energy to meet their net zero targets.

In December 2022 Azerbaijan and Georgia joined the EU-initiated Black Sea Energy project. It is designed to deliver clean electricity generated in Azerbaijan to Georgia and across the Black Sea to Romania, Hungary and other European countries. The project will involve laying a 1,195km underwater electric cable across the Black Sea with a capacity of 1,000 MW.

The new joint venture agreement with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will create a Caspian — Black Sea – Europe green energy corridor that will allow Azerbaijan to export 4 GW of electricity by 2030, STEM said.

Azerbaijan plans to sell another 1 GW of green energy to EU countries via the Nakhichevan -Turkey – Europe route.

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