EU and Azerbaijan launch power cable project across Russia

Azerbaijan will supply electricity to the European Union (EU) through a new submarine cable, under a deal signed in Romania on Saturday aimed at diversifying the bloc’s resources following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“We have decided to turn away from Russian fossil fuels and turn to our reliable energy partners,” Commission President Ursula van der Leyen said in Bucharest.

A press release issued by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on the sidelines of a meeting between the various signatories did not specify the financial and technical structure of the agreement.

It is expected to start in 2029 with the site opening in September 2023. 1195 km long and almost exclusively submerged in the Black Sea, the cable will connect Azerbaijan via Georgia and Romania to Hungary.

All four of these countries are party to the treaty. Romania and Hungary, members of the European Union, benefit from support from the European Commission.

“We are preparing to build the longest submarine power cable. “If I were young, I would say you have to be rock ‘n’ roll to launch such a project,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said.

Since invading Ukraine in February, the European Union has stepped up strategic partnerships with various producing countries in an effort to reduce its dependence on Russian hydrocarbons.

Its president, Ilham Aliyev, assessed it as “our contribution to European energy security” and “a new bridge between the EU and Azerbaijan.”

According to Ursula van der Leyen, the cable represents a “new path of opportunity” for Georgia, “a country with a European destiny” that could become a “powerhouse”.

It will “bring electricity to our neighbors like Moldova and Ukraine and contribute to the modernization of the Ukrainian energy system,” the head of the European Commission said.

The agreement covers other areas of cooperation such as “new energy technologies”, “hydrogen production” or “expansion of transport infrastructure”, according to a press release from the Romanian president.