The governments of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Türkiye and Bulgaria signed an agreement on a strategic clean energy partnership in Antalya on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP31. The document was signed by Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov, Georgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Mariam Kvrivishvili, Bulgarian Energy Minister Iva Petrova, and Türkiye’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar.
The agreement provides for the development of cross-border transmission, distribution and trade in electricity generated from clean sources; the creation of technical, commercial and regulatory conditions for reliable electricity transmission; the integration of the four countries’ power systems; and the development of fiber-optic communications.
“TANAP for electricity”
Türkiye’s Energy Minister Bayraktar called the project “TANAP for electricity,” saying that green electricity would be supplied to European markets along the Azerbaijan–Georgia–Türkiye–Bulgaria route. Bayraktar said the cooperation, launched in 2024 and formalized in a memorandum signed in Baku in April 2025, had now been elevated to the level of an intergovernmental agreement.
On the sidelines of COP31, Bayraktar also held a separate meeting with Mariam Kvrivishvili. The sides agreed to develop their partnership in electricity transmission and trade, building on cooperation established through the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Baku–Tbilisi–Erzurum gas pipeline. Ankara is also discussing with these countries and Romania the laying of an electric cable along the seabed of the Black Sea.
Photo: Türkiye’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources
