The project of the submarine cable in the Black Sea is a large, impressive one, which will be done for future generations, the Minister of Energy, Sebastian Burduja, said on Tuesday.
“It is an energy bridge between the shores of the Black Sea, 1,200 kilometers under the Black Sea, and it practically connects two energy poles, the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, and, beyond that, to Central Europe, but also to the Balkans and, of course, to the Republic of Moldova. (..) It is a project for new generations. This project will not be done overnight. It is an impressive project, it is a grandiose project, but it will be done for generations. Future,” said Sebastian Burduja, after the first part of the ministerial meeting regarding the Agreement between the Governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary regarding the Strategic Partnership in the field of green energy development and transport.
He specified that on Tuesday, in Bucharest, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by which the four states undertook to create a joint venture that will be represented by a company from each member state of this partnership. On Romania’s behalf, based on a Memorandum, the Government appointed Transelectrica, the TSO (transport system operator).
“From now on, the negotiations between the four companies continue in order to move forward with the feasibility study and the implementation of this very important project. I said today that it is a historic moment, because, on the one hand, we are talking about the green transition and there is no green transition without transport. Electricity transport also helps us to bring electricity from the overproduction capacities in Dobrogea to the west of the country, because we already have this challenge. At the same time, we are talking about innovation, about supporting the green transition by all the states present it’s about the diversification of energy sources and, of course, about increasing the safety level of electricity supply,” Burduja said, according to Agerpres.
According to the minister, the next meeting will be in autumn, most likely in Budapest.
“We await with great interest the continuation of this strategic project for Romania and all the states involved,” he pointed out.
Officials from Romania, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Hungary met on Tuesday, in Bucharest, at the 4th ministerial meeting regarding the Agreement between the Governments of the four countries regarding the Strategic Partnership in the field of green energy development and transport.
The agreement between the Governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary regarding the Strategic Partnership in the field of green energy development and transport was signed on December 17, 2022. It is based on the interests of the four states related to the consolidation of national and regional energy security and connectivity in the Black Sea basin, the diversification of supply sources, the exploitation of the potential for the production of renewable energy in the Caspian area and the increase of the share of renewable energy in the energy mix na nationally, according to a press release from the Presidency.
The quadrilateral intergovernmental agreement will provide the financial and technical framework for the development of the project of the submarine cable for the transport of electricity from renewable sources between Romania and Azerbaijan, via Georgia and the Black Sea, and, subsequently, for the transport of this energy to Hungary and the rest of Europe, through the European transport system.
The project of the submarine electricity transmission cable through the Black Sea is part of the agreements in the field of energy agreed between the European Union, represented by the European Commission, and the Republic of Azerbaijan, this being, at the same time, a flagship project for Georgia, as part of the EU Global Gateway strategy.