ADB and AIIB Join Green Energy Corridor Project Across the Caspian Sea

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will finance the development of a feasibility study for the construction of a green energy corridor across the Caspian Sea, the Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan reported.

The international financial institutions signed a memorandum of understanding with the energy agencies of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan at a meeting in Baku. The ADB and the AIIB will allocate $2 mln.

Financing from international banks will help speed up the project’s implementation, calculate the size of investments and economic benefits.

The Caspian Corridor will link the energy systems of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. A cable will be laid across the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea to export clean electricity from Central Asia to Europe.

Georgia, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary are also planning to participate in the project. The previous day Baku hosted a meeting with European participants of the project. The participants discussed attraction of EU financial instruments and terms of completion of the feasibility study.

Kursiv Uzbekistan also reports that the portfolio of joint projects between Uzbekistan and ACWA Power reached $15bn.