Türkiye and Azerbaijan are expanding their energy partnership beyond oil and gas into electricity transmission and green energy corridors, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Monday.
Speaking at the opening of Baku Energy Week, Bayraktar said Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Bulgaria and southeast European countries were working to strengthen regional energy connectivity.
"We are going to create the electricity version of TANAP," Bayraktar said, referring to the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline that carries Azerbaijani gas to Europe through Türkiye.
"You will be hearing much more in the coming weeks and months about the project to carry the electricity resources to Türkiye and, through Türkiye, to Europe," the minister noted.
The project could extend as far as Central Asia in the future, he said, adding that this would strengthen electricity trade and energy security on a regional scale.
Türkiye is planning a $30 billion upgrade to its electricity transmission and distribution system over the next decade to accommodate higher renewable, and also nuclear, energy output.
Ankara also plans to upgrade its electricity transmission connections with eastern neighbors Georgia and Azerbaijan, as well as its European neighbor Bulgaria, to trade surplus energy.
In a message to the conference, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the proposed Green Electricity Transmission and Trade project linking Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Bulgaria is expected to contribute to the energy security of the wider region.
Bayraktar hailed what he described as "exemplary" energy cooperation between Türkiye and Azerbaijan.
The two countries have successfully implemented a series of major energy infrastructure projects, including TANAP, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum natural gas pipeline.
"Together with Azerbaijan, Türkiye makes a significant contribution both to its own energy supply security and to Europe's energy supply security," Bayraktar said.
The minister also referred to talks about Turkmen gas being transported to Türkiye and Europe via Azerbaijan.
"All of our counterparts are extremely interested. Perhaps in terms of timing, we have now reached a point where everyone will say 'yes,'" he said.
Erdoğan also said there are major opportunities to improve cooperation on exporting Turkmen gas via Azerbaijan and Türkiye.
