Hungary had the second cheapest price for natural gas in Europe in November, while electricity was the cheapest here.Continue reading
A quadrilateral agreement has been reached which will allow Hungary to import green electricity from Azerbaijan via a new cable through Georgia and Romania.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca, and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili signed an agreement on the construction of a submarine power cable transmitting electricity from Azerbaijan to Europe in Bucharest on Saturday. The agreement was signed in the presence of Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, and Romanian head of state Klaus Iohannis.
The submarine power cable transmitting electricity generated in Azerbaijan primarily from wind and solar energy will be 1,195 kilometers long, while Romania and Georgia will also be connected with an optic cable capable of high-speed internet data transmission.
Hungary, together with its partners, has committed to a globally unique project- we are about to build the world’s longest submarine power cable,”
Orbán said, adding that Europe is in a strategic vacuum in which state leaders were required to make every effort to create economic and energy security for their countries.
According to the Prime Minister,
the period when we imported cheap raw materials and energy from Russia, in exchange for which we provided Western technology, is over; a period which resulted in economic growth and military security for both parties.”
“There is no new strategy, however, hence the strategic vacuum,” he pointed out.
According to Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the agreement will allow Hungary to import green electricity from Azerbaijan thanks to wind farm investments in the Caspian Sea and the construction of a 3-gigawatt transmission cable.
“Europe as a whole is facing an energy supply crisis, the solution to which lies not in the gas or oil price cap, which will further reduce the amount available, but in exploring new energy sources and channeling them towards Europe,” he explained.
The two shores of the Black Sea have never been closer.
I’m glad the energy agreement puts such a strong emphasis on renewables.
Now we build stronger electricity interconnections ↓ https://t.co/EjE9mt2hL5
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 17, 2022
“This agreement will bring the European Union closer to our partners in the South Caucasus region, and it will help both our regions achieve the clean energy transition,” von der Leyen stressed. According to the German official, the green electricity transmission cable is not only an alternative to Russian fossil fuels but also provides a clean, accessible, and secure future based on renewable energy sources.
Featured photo via Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán