At a forum in Baku focused on the Caspian Sea Black Sea Green Energy Corridor, Wang Hao, Director of Market Development at CDTO Central Asia Office, spoke to the camera about a set of numbers that caught the attention of the European energy community: a 2 gigawatt offshore wind farm will appear in the waters of Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea before 2030, and the green electricity generated will be directly transmitted to Europe through the Green Energy Corridor. He stated in a video released by the Azerbaijan Ministry of Energy that this will be one of the largest energy infrastructure projects in the world.

The wind rises over the Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea never lacks wind. The assessment by the World Bank and ESMAP shows that Azerbaijan's offshore wind power can develop a capacity of up to 157 gigawatts, including approximately 35 gigawatts for fixed and 122 gigawatts for floating. But for a country where oil and gas production accounts for about one-third of its gross domestic product and about 90% of its exports, wind power is just weather, not energy. The turning point occurred in the past two years: Azerbaijan plans to increase the proportion of renewable energy generation to 30% by 2030, and work together with Georgia, Romania, Hungary, and others to promote a high-voltage direct current transmission network that crosses the Black Sea seabed, connecting green electricity from Central Asia and the Caspian Sea to the European power grid. What Datang wants to do is to install the first high-power engine in this corridor.

Two memoranda

The project was not conceived out of thin air. On April 22, 2025, during the state visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to China, the Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan, the green energy subsidiary of Azerbaijan State Oil Company, China Datang Overseas Investment Co., Ltd., and PowerChina Resources Limited signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the development of a 2 GW offshore wind power project in the Azerbaijan Sea of the Caspian Sea, including evaluating investment opportunities and establishing technical and legal support mechanisms. On June 26th, more than two months later, SOCAR Green LLC signed a memorandum of understanding on green energy corridor cooperation with China Datang Overseas Investment Co., Ltd., with the goal of ensuring safe grid access and reliable and stable transmission of renewable energy electricity in Azerbaijan. Both parties will conduct grid system research and provide technical and financial support for introducing Chinese enterprises with experience in high-voltage direct current transmission line design, engineering, and construction management.

Accompanying the industrial park

In addition to wind turbines, Datang is also laying out an industrial chain locally. In September 2025, the Economic Zone Development Agency under the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan signed a memorandum of understanding with Datang Overseas Investment to establish a green energy industrial park in Azerbaijan. Wang Hao stated that the company is collaborating with the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan to build this industrial park to meet the needs of future green energy corridor projects. The goal is to introduce Chinese technology and enterprises into Azerbaijan and achieve localized production. He said that the industrial park will provide important support for the implementation of the project. In addition, Datang has recently led about 25 Chinese companies to invest in Azerbaijan.keywords:New energy information network

From a wind turbine to an industrial park, from Central Asian winds to European power grids, this corridor not only carries 2 gigawatts of installed capacity, but also serves as a pivot for a major oil and gas country to turn around and a new path for China's wind power to go global.Editor/Yang Meiling