Brussels Energy Club at the heart of the Caspian clean energy debate

Brussels Energy Club expanded its cooperation with important stakeholders from the Eurasian regions by chairing a closed expert level roundtable on clean energy in the Caspian region, hosted by the European Institute of Asian Studies in Brussels on 17 March, 2026.

The roundtable featured a presentation from the Executive Director of the Clean Energy Centre for the ECO region (CECECO), Ms Aysel Yagubova, who was in Brussels on a working visit.

CECECO, a new organisation serving as the regional hub for clean energy cooperation among the ECO countries, was presented as a platform for cooperation, capacity building, and knowledge exchange. ECO (Economic Cooperation Organisation) is an international organisation established in the 1990s and comprised of the following countries: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan. 

The discussions covered a wide range of areas, highlighting both growing foreign direct investments initiatives and government support for renewables in the region, whilst also addressing questions of potential market liberalisation in the energy sector. Key challenges identified include limited grid capacity, lack of storage systems, and gaps in implementing existing legislation. Discussions stressed that the main hurdle is no longer policy design but execution. Improving transparency, aligning with EU market models, and building investor confidence were seen as essential to unlocking large-scale investment, and long-term collaboration between the Caspian region and EU.

The view of Dr Marat Terterov, who Chaired the roundtable on behalf of the Brussels Energy Club, was that “CECECO member states have high potential for transitioning towards clean energy and becoming a source of energy exports to the EU, but that plenty of work remains ahead before this prospect is realised”.

Dr Oleksandr (Sacha) Antonenko, a leading Brussels-based expert on Caspian energy speaking at the roundtable, added that “secondary legislation is key. Countries like Azerbaijan already have the primary legislation envisaging the transition to a liberalised power market, but need to adopt a range of important regulations if they are to reap the benefits of liberal energy markets, attract investment and upscale renewables, particularly in the power sector”. He added that “a recent startup Octopus Energy founded in 2015 in a liberal market environment has now become the largest domestic supplier in the UK and brought down prices. This is great news for consumers and a destination that Caspian countries should be looking at”.

Phil Cole, Industrial Affairs Director at WindEurope Association in Brussels, likewise endorsed the overall potential of the Caspian region’s attraction for renewable energy investors. However, he added that “countries in the region will need to align their business models more closely with those prevailing in Europe and to convince the financial markets that the projects currently on the table are bankable and deliverable in the expected timeframes”.