Industry and Energy

Industry and Energy

Azerbaijan approves plan for spending EU grant for energy sector

18 December 2009 16:51 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Rashad Suleymanov - APA-ECONOMICS. Azerbaijan’s Cabinet of Ministers has approved a plan for spending the EUâ€™s â‚¬13 million grant for the Energy Reform Support Programme (ERSP) which will assist in implementing agreed priorities.

Building on the State Programme for the Development of the Fuel and Energy Sector in Azerbaijan, the Government of Azerbaijan under the ERSP will review the national energy strategy in order to develop an overall, coherent, integrated and transparent energy strategy that covers the supply, transportation, transit and use of all energy resources, the further reforms to be undertaken, identifying the infrastructure rehabilitation requirements and the new infrastructure needs, while specifying more in detail policies and legislative and institutional reforms to promote energy efficiency, energy savings and the greater use of renewable energy sources.
It should help to reinforce the energy security of the country through the identification of measures and projects, and should also have a significant impact on the reduction of poverty by spreading the benefits of its oil-based wealth through renewable energy generation and by rendering energy consumption more cost efficient.
Under the plan, out of â‚¬13 million, â‚¬300 000 will be used for technical assistance and preparation of tender documents in 2010, â‚¬5.45 million for the preparation and implementation of a comprehensive energy sector strategy, a plan of action for the effective use of electricity, alternative and renewable energy, feasibility study of an independent regulatory agency in the energy sector, supporting the work of the State Agency for Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources in 2010-2011, â‚¬1 million for support of alternative and renewable energy sources and expanding programs to support reforms in the energy sector, â‚¬250 000 for the State Statistical Committee to improve the statistics in the energy sector in 2010-2011, â‚¬1 million euros for the Ministry of Finance for a project on improvement of management state resources, â‚¬5 million for the Ministry of Industry to support alternative and renewable energy sources and implementation of pilot investment programs in 2011-2012.