Azerbaijan's megaprojects have changed energy, transportation maps of Eurasia: Aliyev

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Tuesday that the country's megaprojects have changed Eurasia's energy and transportation maps, as he addressed a leaders summit part of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku.

“Megaprojects initiated by Azerbaijan already changed the energy and transportations maps of Eurasia, and led to establishment of fruitful multinational cooperation formats,” Aliyev said in his opening address to the opening ceremony of World Leaders Climate Action Summit in the country's capital.

Expressing that Azerbaijan is a geographical meeting point, Aliyev said that his country is also a point where they can build bridges to connect different international actors in terms of politics, culture, trade, and energy.

Aliyev said that Azerbaijan's technical potential for renewable energy stands at an estimated 135GW onshore and 157GW offshore, and that the UAE's state-owned renewable energy company Masdar inaugurated the largest solar power plant in the South Caucasus last year.

He further said that the Saudi-based energy company ACWA Power is constructing a wind power station with a potential of generating 240MW, expressing that a deal between Baku and British Petroleum will be signed during COP29 to build a 240MW solar power plant in the country's southwestern Jabrayil district.

Aliyev also said Azerbaijan is planning to build solar, wind and hydro-based power plants generating approximately 6GW of energy by 2030, and that they are working actively to implement the construction of the Black Sea-Caspian energy cable.

The Azerbaijani president went on to criticize Western politicians calling his country a “petrostate,” defining the assessment as “not fair” and that it demonstrates “lack of political culture and knowledge.”

“Today, Azerbaijan's share in global oil production is 0.7%, (while) in global gas production (is) 0.9%. But (the) fake news media of the country which is (the) number one oil and gas producer in the world, and produces 30 times more oil than Azerbaijan, call us a ‘petrostate.' They better look at themselves or, at least, at their neighbor which produces 10 times more oil than Azerbaijan,” Aliyev said.

Aliyev further said that Azerbaijan has been targeted by “a coordinated, well-orchestrated campaign of slander and blackmail” since it was chosen to host COP29, adding that countries should be judged by other criteria instead of the natural resources they possess.