Serbia, Azerbaijan ink gas supply deals, MoU on green energy

Azerbaijan agreed to supply one million cubic meters of natural gas to Serbia per day for five months through March. The earlier contract for up to 400 million cubic meters per year expires at the end of 2026, when it can be expanded to one billion cubic meters, ministers Parviz Shahbazov and Dubravka Đedović Handanović noted at the signing ceremony. They also signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in green energy.

Serbia has secured the supply of one million cubic meters of gas for the winter from Azerbaijan, Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović said after a meeting in Belgrade with Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan Parviz Shahbazov.

Another two agreements have been signed on gas supply between State Oil Company of Azerbaijan – SOCAR and Serbia’s government-owned Srbijagas. The two countries agreed late last year on the supply of up to 400 million cubic meters of gas per year until the end of 2026. The deal can then be boosted to one billion cubic meters per annum, the ministers recalled.

Cooperation may expand to gas storage, power plants

The gas interconnection between Bulgaria and Serbia, put into operation last December, now serves for the gas supply from Azerbaijan to Serbia, Shahbazov pointed out.

The new agreement enables expanding the cooperation to projects such as gas storage or a gas-fired power plant, he said.

The contracts between Srbijagas and SOCAR give Serbia additional security of gas supply as it can now count on one million cubic meters per day from November 1 to March 31, Đedović Handanović stressed.

Possibility to include Serbia in green electricity corridor from Caspian Sea to Eastern Europe

The two ministers also signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the green energy sector within the energy transition. It concerns production, trading and financing as well as new technologies such as carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCS and CCUS), e-mobility, energy storage and green hydrogen. The document facilitates investments in both directions, Shahbazov underscored.

He revealed that he spoke to Đedović Handanović about the possibility of Serbia joining the Green Energy Corridor project for the transmission of electricity from the Caspian Sea to Eastern Europe. Serbia would be the receiver of the green electricity but also a transit country, Shahbazov asserted.

In the first phase, the corridor is planned to have 4 GW in capacity, he asserted.

The main idea is to install a power cable under the Black Sea between Georgia and Romania. Serbia’s neighbors Hungary and Bulgaria are also involved in the endeavor.

“Serbia can potentially have an important role in the project, too, primarily because of its geographical position, as we plan to strengthen the interconnections on the electricity transmission grid with Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria in the coming years, and with the completion of the Trans-Balkan Corridor we will enhance transmission capacities toward Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro as well and, indirectly, toward Italy,” Đedović Handanović stated.