Agreements with Saudi and UAE companies on renewable energy to boost investments in Azerbaijan

Baku, February 18 - Neftegaz.RU. The contracts recently signed by Azerbaijan, ACWA Power (Saudi Arabia) and Masdar (United Arab Emirates) on renewable energy can attract investments in Azerbaijan by other Gulf Cooperation Council members as well, Mohammed Alrmizan, a researcher at King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies (Saudi Arabia), told Trend.

According to the agreements signed with Azerbaijan’s Energy Ministry, pilot projects will be implemented for the construction of wind power plants with a capacity of 240 MW with ACWA Power, and for the construction of solar power plants with a capacity of 200 MW with Masdar. In general, production of about 1.4 billion kWh of electricity on wind and solar energy projects annually is predicted.

"ACWA Power, another Saudi company owned by Saudi public and private assets, announced earlier in January the signing of an agreement with Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Energy for a big investment project. The recent agreement signed between ACWA Power and Azerbaijan’s Energy Ministry shows how effective the bilateral relations are, not only in political, but also in economic sphere. Saudi companies’ opening offices, or bringing up business and investments in Azerbaijan should be seen as another layer of cooperation that is needed in both countries’ bilateral cooperation. Azerbaijan could also attract other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members to come and invest," said the expert.

Alrmizan noted that historical and current relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan reflect a good bilateral and cooperative perspective not only between the states, but also between the peoples of both countries.

"Saudi Aramco just opened a representational office in Baku. Aramco’s opening office in Baku should be seen as a strong step for future cooperation between one of the largest oil companies in the world and Azerbaijan’s state and private entities. Saudi Arabia seeks to continue build up its cooperation with countries worldwide in all spheres of economy as a producing and consuming country. Azerbaijan is an important oil and gas producing country and has a good strategic position for Saudi Arabia to expand its economic and trade activities," he concluded.