Alexey Belogoryev, Research and Development Director of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to the Oil and Capital newspaper on the possible energy aspects of Azerbaijan and Turkey's interest in the Zangezur Corridor in Armenia.
As Alexey Belogoryev reminded, Nakhichevan has a short border with Turkey in the Ararat region. If we talk about direct supplies from Azerbaijan to Turkey, bypassing Iran, then we will have to build a lot of appropriate infrastructure for energy transit. In general, it is not clear why electricity should be supplied over such long distances. For the consumption of Nakhichevan itself, there is logic in new communications, but for Turkey it is questionable. There is no generation from nuclear power plants in Azerbaijan, so that energy is an order of magnitude cheaper than in Turkey. The latter can produce it itself by burning gas.
Alexey Belogoryev added that in this case it would be more logical for Turkmenistan to use the Iranian territory, since there are already gas pipelines and spare capacities for pumping gas to Turkey. In general, if the Caspian gas pipeline is ever built, Georgia will still become a corridor for it."Azerbaijan's direct supplies via the Zangezur corridor are not very clear, as it is not entirely clear what Baku will supply in this direction. Azerbaijan has growing, but still limited resources for gas exports. The Georgian corridor is quite sufficient for this.
It is more logical to talk about playing the card of Turkmen gas or Kazakh oil. For Azerbaijan to become a transit country for them and use the Zangezur corridor. However, all this requires a highly developed transport infrastructure, which is not available either in Nakhichevan or in the relevant regions of Turkey," the expert says.
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