By Bosphorus News Energy Desk
Türkiye and Azerbaijan have selected the most feasible technical option for a new electricity connection through Nakhchivan, while construction of a 1,000-megawatt transmission line continues on the Azerbaijani side and the two countries' grid operators carry out further feasibility studies before implementation.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said preliminary work on the interconnection had been completed and the preferred option identified during the fifth Azerbaijan-Türkiye Energy Forum in Baku on Sept. 11, where he and Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov also signed the forum protocol.
The proposed link would be far larger than the existing Türkiye-Nakhchivan connection, which under an operating agreement signed by Türkiye's grid operator TEİAŞ and AzerEnerji in April 2025 had 75 MW of import capacity and 40 MW of export capacity.
The new project targets 1 GW in its first stage, with much of the physical work on the Azerbaijani side already advanced.
AzerEnerji Chairman Balababa Rzayev said the 74-kilometer, double-circuit 330-kilovolt line from the Jabrayil substation toward the Armenian border was nearly complete and designed to carry 1,000 MW, while design work for the section toward Nakhchivan had also been completed.
Land has been allocated in Nakhchivan for a converter substation, and AzerEnerji plans a separate 230-kilometer, 400-kV line between Nakhchivan and Türkiye, although Rzayev said further political decisions on the route were still expected.
The cross-border section is expected to pass through Armenian territory under the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) framework, which covers transport and energy infrastructure linking Azerbaijan with Nakhchivan while keeping the section inside Armenia under Armenian sovereignty and jurisdiction.
Azerbaijani officials also refer to the route as the Zangezur Corridor, while Shahbazov said the next stage would connect Nakhchivan with Türkiye and establish a new electricity route between the two countries.
The Nakhchivan project is one of three power corridors now being discussed by Ankara and Baku, with a second route intended to connect Azerbaijan, Georgia, Türkiye and Bulgaria through a green electricity transmission and trade corridor.
Bayraktar called that project the "TANAP of electricity," referring to the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline carrying Azerbaijani gas across Türkiye, and said the partners want to begin with available grid infrastructure before increasing capacity in stages.
The four countries signed a memorandum on the project in 2025, and Bayraktar said further agreements are being targeted around COP31 in Antalya in November.
A third route would carry electricity west across the Black Sea toward Romania and Hungary, with Türkiye considering participation as the two governments also look beyond Azerbaijani generation to possible future supplies from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Officials in Ankara and Baku have said those links could eventually feed a wider electricity network connecting Central Asia, Azerbaijan, Türkiye and European markets.
The forum protocol gives electricity connectivity its own working-group track at future Azerbaijan-Türkiye energy meetings, placing power transmission alongside the oil and gas cooperation that has defined the bilateral energy relationship for decades.
That hydrocarbons partnership is expanding at the same time, with the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (TPAO) discussing new upstream projects in Azerbaijan, Türkiye and third countries.
TPAO has already agreed to acquire a 30% interest in the Shafag-Asiman production sharing agreement alongside SOCAR and bp, while Bayraktar said discussions had also extended to the Karabakh field, where no TPAO stake or farm-in agreement has yet been announced.
bp became operator of Karabakh with a 35% interest in 2025, while SOCAR holds the remaining 65%.
Türkiye and Azerbaijan are also examining greater use of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline as their gas trade continues through the South Caucasus Pipeline and the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), which Bayraktar said has carried more than 100 billion cubic meters of gas since operations began.
More than 1 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas has also reached Syria through Türkiye since flows started through the Kilis connection, while BOTAŞ and SOCAR are discussing extensions to some existing gas trade agreements.
Türkiye has separately signed a 15-year agreement for 33 billion cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan's Absheron field, with deliveries due to begin in 2029.
Among the new electricity projects, the 1 GW Nakhchivan link is the furthest advanced physically, with the Azerbaijani transmission section nearing completion while the connection through Armenia and onward to Türkiye remains under technical and political preparation.
Sources: Türkiye Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Azerbaijan Ministry of Energy, AzerEnerji, TEİAŞ, bp, BOTAŞ, Bosphorus News review and reporting.