Azerbaijan's 1,000-Year Oil Industry Turns to Wind and Solar

For over a thousand years, Azerbaijan's relationship with oil ran so deep that locals used it in everything from medicine to moats. Now, where oil wells once dotted the landscape, 37 white wind turbines spin across the Khizi-Absheron Wind Farm, the largest in the Caucasus region.

The country that produced the world's first industrial petroleum in 1847 is making a dramatic bet on renewables. Today, wind farms and solar arrays are springing up across this nation of 10 million, with leaders planning to export enough clean energy to help power Europe's renewable revolution.

"You can drill as many wells as you want but sooner or later your production is going to go down," says Hikmat Abdullayev from Azerbaijan's State Oil Company. "With renewables it's not like that."

Oil and gas still account for nearly half of Azerbaijan's economy and over 90% of its exports. But the government's updated climate plan commits to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2050 and increasing renewable energy to 30% of total power by 2030.

The country now expects to beat that target, reaching 38% renewable power. Rafig Mammadov from Azerbaijan's Renewable Energy Agency credits government investments that triggered a wave of private funding in solar and wind projects.

The results are already visible outside the capital, Baku. The Khizi-Absheron Wind Farm, commissioned in January 2026, produces enough electricity to power 300,000 homes and saves the equivalent of 330 million cubic meters of natural gas yearly.

Further south, the Garadagh Solar Power Plant features 570,000 gleaming panels generating power for 110,000 homes. The facility, developed with Saudi company Masdar, saves around 200,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually and is set to nearly double in size.

The government is offering serious incentives to make it happen. Tax breaks cover projects worth up to $17.7 million, with special support for facilities over 100 megawatts capacity.

THE RIPPLE EFFECT

Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR is leading the charge through its SOCAR Green subsidiary, partnering with foreign companies to build renewable facilities. "Our direction is to become an energy company, rather than an oil and gas company," Abdullayev explains.

The shift shows how even nations built on fossil fuels can pivot toward clean energy without abandoning their economic foundations. As solar and wind become the cheapest sources of new electricity generation worldwide, Azerbaijan's transformation demonstrates that diversification makes financial sense.

Through already approved projects, Azerbaijan has cut annual greenhouse gas emissions by 600,000 tonnes, proving that the world's oldest oil producer can become a renewable energy leader for the future.