Samir Akhundov, Chairman of the Management Board of the Azerbaijan Energy Regulatory Agency (AERA), participated in the plenary discussion at the 29th Baku Energy Forum, titled “Unlocking Sustainable Energy: Green Energy Potential in the Caspian Region” and answered various questions.

Addressing the energy transition, Samir Akhundov said that green energy implies not only creation of new generation capacities, but also a holistic approach taking into consideration an efficient and secure integration of green energy capacities into the energy system.

Speaking about the regulation of transmission and distribution systems as natural monopolies, the AERA Chairman highlighted the need for investments to liberalize the electricity market and to meet the required flexibility of the grid.

Samir Akhundov further noted that new tariff approaches and methodologies should be applied to satisfy all participants in the value chain, starting from electricity generation, energy storage, transmission, distribution, supply, and last, but not least, consumers.

Reminding that the Azerbaijan Energy Regulatory Agency was designated as the manager of the Energy Efficiency Fund, Samir Akhundov said one of the main tasks of the Fund is to support the use of renewable energy sources.

Representatives from the Azerbaijan Renewable Energy Agency (AREA), Boston Consulting Group, CESI, Masdar, ACWA Power, and other companies also participated in the panel discussions.