Italgas and Azerbaijan’s SOCAR to cooperate on gas distribution
Image: Italgas
Italian gas group Italgas and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) have signed an agreement to strengthen collaboration.
The agreement, which stems from an existing agreement in place between Italgas’ digital subsidiary Bludigit and Azerigas Production Union, the entity responsible for the distribution and sale of natural gas in Azerbaijan, is aimed to promote innovation, efficiency and sustainability in the gas distribution sector.
The main areas of collaboration envisaged include the exchange of best practices and technologies to incentivise the energy transition and digitalisation, with particular attention to the decarbonisation of infrastructures through the detection of gas leaks with the Picarro technology and the digitalisation of processes.
“We strongly believe in the value of cooperation and discussion at a global level to accelerate the transition to net zero,” said Paolo Gallo, CEO of Italgas of the agreement,
“We are excited to embark on a partnership path with SOCAR which, like us, considers technological innovation and sustainability to be fundamental pillars of growth. In this context, the agreement has a strategic importance as it will allow us to expand the resources to be allocated to the study of breakthrough solutions and to explore new technologies that will allow us to further strengthen our unanimously recognised leadership at global level in the gas distribution sector.”
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Elshad Nassirov, Vice President of SOCAR responsible for gas, is pleased to deepen the collaboration with Italgas.
“This agreement represents an important milestone on our path towards a net-zero future, allowing us to integrate advanced technologies such as Picarro’s CRDS into our gas distribution infrastructure. By strengthening our leak detection capabilities and increasing digitalisation, we are not only optimising efficiency but also making a significant contribution to reducing emissions across the network.”
The Bludigit, Azerigas Production Union agreement is focussed on the identification of leaks in the Azerbaijani gas network and the reduction of emissions attributable to the distribution sector.
Picarro’s CRDS (cavity ring-down spectroscopy) technology is already being used in the pilot phase, together with the analysis of the data collected, to improve the effectiveness and timeliness in identifying leaks, including minor ones, and to guide preventive maintenance interventions on the network.
