At COP29 in Baku, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced a significant $160 million investment, alongside the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), to support the construction of two large-scale solar power plants in Azerbaijan.
Each multilateral development bank will contribute equally to the financing of the 760 MW combined capacity plants in Bilasuvar and Neftchala, with plans for completion by 2027. The projects, sponsored by Masdar and SOCAR Green, represent the largest renewable energy initiatives in the Caucasus and aim to power up to 300,000 homes while cutting CO2 emissions by over 600,000 tonnes annually.
“We are very pleased to be financing these solar plants, the largest to date in the Caucasus, saving over 600,000 tonnes of CO2 annually,” said Nandita Parshad, Managing Director of EBRD's Sustainable Infrastructure Group. “In addition to the real-world impact of powering up to 300,000 homes with green energy, this significant investment will transform the entire renewable energy market in the region.”
This financing supports Azerbaijan's ambition to increase renewable energy's share of its total power generation to 30% by 2030. The EBRD has been a long-term investor in Azerbaijan, contributing over €3.7 billion to 191 projects in the country, including its first utility-scale solar plant. In total, the Bank has financed more than 1.2 GW of renewable energy capacity in Azerbaijan.
