Socar. Uniper Unite in Energy Efficiency

Germany’s Uniper has set up a joint venture with Azerbaijan state oil company Socar to build and operate a steam and power generation unit for a petrochemical complex. The deal was signed May 25 by Socar CEO Rovnag Abdullaev and his counterpart Klaus Schafer in Sumgait, near Baku. The city is home to the country's petrochemical industry.

The JV, whose ownership is split 51-49 in Socar's favour, will design and build a unit in addition to the existing one that will help to provide sufficient steam and electricity for Socar’s Azerkimiya production arm.

The project aims at increasing efficiency of the steam-generating complex at the ethylene-polyethylene plant and ensuring production of additional volumes of power. Start up is planned for 2018.

Uniper will supply €4mn and Socar €2mn of the funding. The rest will be borrowed from a German bank on attractive terms, Abdullaev said. “The bank will provide funding on very attractive conditions as the project aim is to increase energy efficiency”, he explained.

(Socar. Uniper Unite in Energy Efficiency)

Socar does not see any problems with providing gas for the new unit, moreover, as its high efficiency means the increase in gas supply will not be significant, Abdullaev told NGE.   

According to Schafer, the company is looking for other possibilities in Azerbaijan, but building this unit is a realistic and feasible project to implement.  “I do believe Azerbaijan has a lot of potential for energy efficiency and our expertise could be useful, but it is always good to start with some realistic projects, not a dream,” he told NGE.   

Uniper is a German energy company with 14,000 employees based in Dusseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was fspun off from E.ON at the start of this year and is to float next month.

Kama Mustafayeva

Are pipeline politics coming to an end? @FProedrou recent article provides some insight: https://t.co/yLqrXAbi2x

— Natural Gas World (@NatGasWorld) May 26, 2016