On April 15, Azerbaijan's First Deputy Minister of Finance, Anar Karimov, held a meeting with the World Bank's energy sector mission delegation, which included Roger Coma Cunill, Senior Energy Specialist and task team leader, as well as Sameh Mobarek, the new task team leader, according to a report from Azerbaijan's Finance Ministry.

The meeting focused on the World Bank's support to Azerbaijan regarding the implementation of the Azerbaijan Scaling-Up Renewable Energy (AZURE) project, as well as the results achieved under the technical assistance carried out within the framework of the partnership between the Azerbaijani government and the World Bank, The Caspian Post reports, citing local media.

Karimov noted that over 30 years of successful cooperation has made the World Bank one of Azerbaijan's key development partners. He stated that within this cooperation framework, the strategically important AZURE project has made a significant contribution to strengthening the transmission network by ensuring the integration of 1 GW capacity solar-wind power plants built by Masdar company into the national energy system.

Touching upon the prospect of financing Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) as part of the AZURE project, the deputy minister highlighted the particular importance of this initiative in terms of enhancing grid flexibility, broader-scale integration of renewable energy sources, and strengthening overall grid resilience.

In turn, the World Bank representatives expressed their satisfaction with the cooperation with Azerbaijan in the energy sector. They noted that technical support would continue in the areas of electricity grid modernization, tariff reforms, and offshore wind energy development. At the same time, the importance of transforming technical assistance results into more sustainable and efficient investment projects, as well as strengthening coordination among relevant institutions, was emphasized.

During the meeting, an exchange of views was also held on identifying priority investment directions for the next phase, the development of renewable energy projects, and further expansion of cooperation with the Bank.