UNDP Resident Representative a.i. Alessandro Fracassetti's opening speech at the awareness raising and knowledge-sharing workshop on energy efficiency and renewable energy

December 5, 2018

Mr. Fracassetti delivering his opening address at the awareness raising and knowledge-sharing workshop on energy efficiency. 5 December 2018. Baku, Azerbaijan

As prepared for delivery 

Awareness raising and knowledge-sharing on effective policies and programmes in the implementation of energy efficiency measures in various end-use sectors 

Baku, December 5 2018

Dear Mrs. Rafiga Huseynzade, Vice-President of SOCAR

Dear Mr. Novruz Guliyev, Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources

Dear members of the international community, the Government of Azerbaijan, civil society and media,

Dear guests, distinguished delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Salam! Sabahiniz kheyir! (Hello! Good morning, everyone!)

I am pleased to welcome you all at this workshop. The issues could not be more topical.

As we come together to discuss and to share best practices on different energy efficiency measures that are used around the globe, world leaders and climate change experts meet this week in the Polish city of Katowice at one of the UN’s most talked-about and thought-provoking events, the COP24. COP24 is the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and is a platform where matters of burning urgency are brought to the table. We may want to be in denial on many things climate change related, but as UN Secretary Antonio Guterres put it just about 2 days ago. ‘We are in deep trouble’ with climate action’ an it’s not business as usual. “Climate change is running faster than we are and we must catch up sooner rather than later before it is too late”.

We at UN say that ‘climate action makes social and economic sense’ and is the main precondition for the success of the new Global Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. In fact, research suggests that “an ambitious climate action could yield 65 million jobs and a direct economic gain of $26 trillion US dollars compared to business as usual over the next 12 years”. If we do nothing then global warming could reach 1.5 degrees as soon as 2030, with unimaginable, devastating impacts.

Echoing these global environmental threats here in Azerbaijan, together with GEF and hand-in-hand with SOCAR, nearly three years ago we launched the Project on the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions, putting climate change at the heart of our intervention plans. These three years have been marked by certain challenges, but also by remarkable results which we are pleased and proud to present to you today.

We are glad to see that the achievements of the project have supported SOCAR in the implementation of its own Climate Change Strategy and resulted in reduction of GHG emissions. With more energy-efficient technologies and eco-friendly modalities, they help Azerbaijan to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals and to meet the country’s obligations under the Paris Climate Agreement.

The project has been designed to reduce GHG emissions in SOCAR’s three main activity areas, namely in building sector, transportation system, and in associated gas capturing, and, finally, to prepare Measurement, Reporting and Verification system and replicate project results on a bigger scale.

Our first objective is the improvement of energy efficiency in selected administrative and service buildings of SOCAR, including the service buildings of Azerkimya in Sumgayit, administrative and service buildings at Waste Treatment Center in Garadag and two buildings at Ecopark. These pilot activities helped to identify the most appropriate energy efficient measures in construction sector. The most recent energy audit of those buildings has revealed the reduction of CO2 emissions by 200 tons/year and the reduction of energy consumption by 35% across the total area of 10,000 square meters in SOCAR building.  This is just a small portion of SOCAR buildings and as we expand our collaboration with SOCAR in this area, we can actually cover more buildings and a much greater total area than we do now. As we build the grounds for future platforms, these energy efficiency actions that we started as first experiments with SOCAR have a potential to grow and replicatE nationwide.

Another objective was to test how/if we could improve energy efficiency of SOCAR’s transportation fleet. We considered several options, and then, in view of the insufficient supply of plug-in options that are the main precondition for entirely electric cars, we decided to try hybrid cars, which use about 3.5-4 liters of gasoline per 100 km. To test this option, the Project has provided SOCAR with four energy efficient hybrid cars. They were tested and demonstrated a remarkable energy-saving potential.

That was only the first step. We realise that SOCAR has a big conventional car fleet, and the level of CO2 emissions there, understandably, is huge. Our studies demonstrated that in addition to the introduction of hybrid cars, which, unfortunately, are still expensive in Azerbaijan, there is a cheaper and a more accessible way to reduce emissions. If you can teach drivers how to drive in an environmentally friendly manner, this can significantly help with mitigation efforts. So we decided to introduce eco-driving practices to SOCAR’s day-to-day operational routine. As we trained SOCAR’s drivers on eco-driving techniques, the first tests showed that just by more efficient eco driving, up to 10-15% of fuel could be saved. To increase the added value of this intervention, the project provided SOCAR with an eco-driving simulator. Up to now, 600 hundred drivers have been trained compared to 350 initially planned and the process is still ongoing. Test driving on real roads actually increases the GHG emissions as it does the traffic density and risk of road accidents. In turn the usage of just one eco-simulator allows us to train over 1,000 drivers each year.  Once fully introduced, the eco-driving will make it possible to prevent the emissions of 1,500 tons of carbon dioxide, or saving up to 600 tons of fuel, or savings close to 1 million AZN a year. On a national level, as a first step we expect that SOCAR will make the eco-driving simulators accessible for other state agencies, and we also hope these simulators will be more widespread throughout the entire country.

Eco-simulators could be used to train private car owners as well, which will lead to behavioral changes and reduce both the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. It will also reduce the number of accidents on the roads as well. In total, the replication potential includes all drivers in the country, more than 1.5 mln people. Imagine the impact that we can make by tackling this many end-users where energy saving in transport sector is concerned.

The third, and the most ambitious, objective of the NAMA project is related to associated gas capturing. The research that we conducted last year showed that just from three oil fields in Siyazan a huge amount of natural gas is vented into atmosphere each year. The initial estimates show that if captured, this gas would be sufficient to provide natural gas to about 3-4 thousand households, as a much-needed alternative to fuelwood, which families currently use for cooking and other domestic purposes. In order to do that, we will purchase, install and test the gas-capturing equipment in Siyazan oilfields– this process is currently underway and expected to be completed by mid-2019. Along with its purely altruistic and humanitarian weigh, this component of the project will first and foremost save forests of the northern regions of Azerbaijan. Not only it will contribute to the protection of the ozone layer, but also it will significantly improve the livelihood of nearby villages, where especially women would be the most directly affected beneficiaries.

Lastly, the project supports the national system of managing data related to GHG emissions, through the development of Measurement, Reporting and Verification System (MRV). The MRV, once established, will allow SOCAR and other stakeholders to capture GHG emission data, crucial for maintaining the national GHG inventory system, and will also be instrumental for tracing the NAMA project outcomes.

Just as I said before, these are just small step and certainly pilot initiatives. They have taught us an important lesson that energy efficient technologies and methods are very applicable in the Azerbaijani context and their potential should be further leveraged on. We expect that SOCAR, with the breadth and depth of its expertise in Azerbaijan can and will use its own economic, engineering, and scientific potential to take the lead over this process, replicate those activities and become the champion of changes in the realm of energy efficiency programmes in Azerbaijan. 

Let me also reiterate here once again that the success of the national mitigation plans in Azerbaijan would not be possible without the high level of trust established between UNDP and SOCAR and the excellent cooperation that we have enjoyed over the course of the project implementation phase with the Vice-President and her team.

We also highly appreciate the collaboration with the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, our longstanding partner and the key player on the Government side in Azerbaijan, with a clear and ambitious mandate to protect the environment, report on GHG emissions. Finally, in all our work around climate change in Azerbaijan, financial support from the Global Environment Facility was of paramount importance and help and we look forward to continuing our joint work in this area.

Thank you for your attention! Diqqetiniz uchun chokh teshekkur edirem!