We've been very proud to finance 1.2 gigawatts, so that's 1,200 megawatts of renewable energy, wind and solar capacity. And that's good progress, but it's a good start. We think there's (Azerbaijan) more potential to be used, Harry Boyd-Carpenter, managing director of the EBRD Sustainable Infrastructure Group, said in an interview with Report.
"We've been really excited about the development of renewable energy in particular, and that's core to what you have to do. ...You know that Azerbaijan is currently a key exporter of traditional energy, of hydrocarbons. It's clearly looking, and this was also a theme of COP29, to position itself as an exporter of green energy: both its own renewable energy and potentially also Central Asia's renewable energy. ...The first big opportunity is private investment in renewable energy and we think that makes sense. It makes sense because what the private sector has shown in country after country is that they can do this quicker and cheaper. I keep coming up to cost, because if energy is expensive, then it eventually becomes a problem. ...And that's the beauty of wind and solar. They're green and clean, but they're also cheap. We think the private sector is really good at doing this. That's a model that Azerbaijan has followed. So you see all of the renewable energy projects here are private. We'd like to see more of those. And we think there will be more. We were very pleased to support the government in structuring an auction program for renewables last year. ...I keep coming back to this, but number one is renewable energy. Small businesses can always use solar panels. You have a beautifully sunny country. Because I'm British, I know how valuable that is. It's always going to make sense if you're a warehouse owner or a factory owner to put solar panels on your roof," he noted.
