Armenia, Azerbaijan Plan Shared Energy Corridor with Pipelines, Power Links
Armenia and Azerbaijan are planning to integrate energy systems as part of a proposed South Caucasus transit corridor that could include new oil and gas pipelines, electricity links, and rail infrastructure.
(Reuters) — Armenia and Azerbaijan will integrate their energy systems to facilitate the import and export of electricity, Armenia's prime minister was cited by state media as saying on Jan. 21.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, addressing parliament, did not provide a timeline or specifics. He said the move was part of a planned strategic transit corridor through the South Caucasus known as the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP).
Armenia and Azerbaijan were at war for nearly four decades over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh, and reached a U.S.-brokered peace agreement last August after meeting President Donald Trump at the White House.
The proposed TRIPP project would run across southern Armenia and give Azerbaijan a direct route to its exclave of Nakhchivan and in turn to Turkey, Baku's close ally.
Armenia will grant the United States a 74% share in the TRIPP Development Company for 49 years and hold onto the remaining stake itself, according to a joint statement that followed a meeting earlier this month between Armenia's foreign minister and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington.
The U.S. company would be granted exclusive rights to develop the corridor under the deal, and could extend the agreement for an additional 50 years, during which time Armenia's equity share would rise to 49%. Yerevan would retain complete sovereignty over its borders, customs, taxation and security as part of the agreement.
The project envisages new or updated rail infrastructure, oil and gas pipelines and fiber optic cables crisscrossing the South Caucasus, a strategic region sandwiched between Russia, Iran and Turkey.
Azerbaijan has begun sending gasoline shipments to Armenia after a pause of some three decades in a sign that relations between the two countries are gradually improving.
No peace deal has been signed, however.
Azerbaijan is demanding that Armenia change its constitutional preamble, which Baku says makes implicit claims to Azerbaijani territory.
Pashinyan, who faces parliamentary elections in June, has called for a referendum to amend the constitution, but no date for it has been set yet.