BAKU, Azerbaijan – A visit to Azerbaijan’s capital city, Baku, where the annual United Nations climate summit will be held at the end of 2024 can be a jarring experience.
All eyes will be on Azerbaijan’s climate strategy in 2024, given that it will be hosting a major climate conference where the urgency of bringing down fossil fuel use will be in the spotlight. Singapore relies on this fossil fuel for about 95 per cent of its energy needs. Mr Kamran Huseynov, deputy director of Azerbaijan Renewable Energy Agency, which is under the country’s Ministry of Energy, told reporters: “We had the initial target of achieving 30 per cent renewable capacity by 2030, but we intend to add these 2GW of clean energy by 2027, 2028... If you add it to the grid, we would have reached around 32 , 33 per cent .”
Many governments, including those in Singapore, Japan, the European Union and Australia, have outlined long-term targets of bringing down their carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 under the Paris Agreement, the world’s climate treaty. But others point out that Azerbaijan’s economic transition can be a “lighthouse” for other fossil fuel-producing economies to follow.Winners of Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize to collaborate on urban projects, tackle issuesAzerbaijan’s renewable push has put it in good stead to meet the global goal of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030, and doubling energy efficiency by 2025.
While the government does not directly invest in renewable energy projects, project developers are given incentives such as free land leases for projects that produce 100MW or more of clean energy, said Mr Huseynov. “This influx of investments will create jobs, foster technological growth, and drive overall economic development in Azerbaijan,” said the CAT spokesman.
In total, it has around 27GW to 28GW in preliminary green electricity deals with foreign companies, he added. Such a grid is also being explored for the South-east Asian region, although similar regulatory, technical and financial hurdles continue to affect its development. This will help countries to better meet the global goal of transitioning away from fossil fuels, and help limit global warming to 1.5 deg C above pre-industrial levels.