A joint venture is advancing plans to connect Azerbaijan’s grid with Central Europe via a \u20ac22.1 billion infrastructure corridor crossing the Black Sea and the Caucasus. GECO, a joint venture registered in Bucharest, was founded on equal terms by four parties: Azerbaijani system operator AzerEnerji, Georgia’s grid operator GSE, Romania’s Transelectrica, and Hungary’s state energy group MVM together with grid operator MAVIR.<\/p>\n
The project envisions three 525 kV direct-current cables, each rated at 1.3 GW, planned to run roughly 1,120 kilometres from Georgia’s Black Sea coast to Romania’s Constan\u021ba at depths reaching 2,200 metres. Below 150\u2013200 metres the Black Sea contains hydrogen sulphide and no dissolved oxygen, so marine surveys are concentrated on shallower shelf sections and cable landing points near Anaklia, Poti, and Constan\u021ba.<\/p>\n
Overland, the route would connect to the Georgian network through converter stations at Ksani and Tskhaltub\u043e. The corridor’s total cost breaks into \u20ac14.3 billion for transmission infrastructure \u2014 undersea cables, overland lines, and converter stations \u2014 and \u20ac7.8 billion for dedicated renewable generation capacity.<\/p>\n
The consortium’s feasibility study was approved in July, and partners are seeking Project of Mutual Interest status under the EU’s TEN-E regulation. The first segment \u2014 over 3,000 kilometres from Baku to Albertirsa, outside Budapest \u2014 is planned for 2032, initially delivering 8 TWh per year. A branch toward Domne\u0219ti near Bucharest is scheduled for 2036. Once all lines are operational, including a 2 GW segment linking southern Constan\u021ba to Albertirsha, the corridor is designed to supply 20 TWh annually to the EU.<\/p>\n
Project partners are also studying a hydrogen pipeline from Baku to Hungary, estimated at \u20ac6.6\u201313 billion, with five diameter options and the final choice still pending, Balkan Green Energy News reports.<\/p>\n