Artificial intelligence, upstream investment and gas security have led the conversation at Baku Energy Week 2026, as global energy companies used the annual gathering in Azerbaijan to showcase how the sector is adapting to geopolitical uncertainty.
Across two parallel venues, the Caspian Oil & Gas exhibition at the Baku Expo Center and the Baku Energy Forum at the Baku Convention Center, executives and policymakers signalled that the industry’s next phase will depend increasingly on automation, digital infrastructure and commercially viable emissions reduction.
Abid Malik, President for Central Asia at ACWA Power, described Baku Energy Week as a growing international platform bringing together stakeholders from across the energy sector, from hydrocarbons to renewables and infrastructure investment.
“This forum also provides an extremely good opportunity for exploring more investment opportunities, not only in Azerbaijan, but in Central Asia, in Caucasus, and in the Eastern Europe as well,” he said.
Malik said ACWA Power currently has around $740 million invested in Azerbaijan, including the Khizi-Absheron 240-megawatt wind project, which entered operations earlier this year and has already contributed more than 400 million kilowatt hours of electricity into the national grid.
