Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov took part in a ministerial round table on regional cooperation for energy security, diversification and transition to green energy in Sofia.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Minister highlighted the energy dialogue with the European Union after President Ilham Aliyev's meeting with EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson in February this year, APA reports.
He said that the main areas of the energy dialogue are decarbonization of the energy sector, energy transition, energy efficiency, expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor for additional gas exports to Europe, including hydrogen, production and export of other types of green energy.
The Southern Gas Corridor has proved its strategic importance in a short period of time, providing European consumers with uninterrupted and profitable natural gas during the energy crisis, and Azerbaijan is determined to continue playing the role of a reliable energy supplier for both the region and Europe.
To date, 11.6 billion cubic meters of gas have been transported to Europe through TAP. During the first four months of this year, 3.5 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas were delivered to Europe – 3.1 billion cubic meters to Italy, 0.3 billion cubic meters to Greece and 0.1 billion cubic meters to Bulgaria. At current export rates, our gas supplies to Europe will exceed 10 billion cubic meters by the end of the year.
The minister also spoke about Azerbaijan's plans for decarbonization and the transition to green energy and ongoing projects.
"Along with huge reserves of natural gas, our renewable energy potential has created great opportunities for further development of a progressive energy dialogue with the European Union," the Azerbaijani minister said.