SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s State Water Resources Agency and UAE-based Esyasoft Holding exchanged a memorandum of understanding on 25 September during the Second Azerbaijan International Investment Forum in Baku. SOCAR said the parties will assess, prepare a general design and plan the deployment of a Smart Water Grid Management System in Azerbaijan. The planned feasibility study is to cover technical, operational, commercial, financial, regulatory and cybersecurity questions.

The company listed possible components including smart meters, remote data collection and processing, network monitoring, leak detection, pressure management and digital hydraulic modelling. SOCAR is to develop a financing model and a potential public-private partnership framework, and examine energy-efficiency options for water supply, including pump optimisation. The memorandum starts a study and planning process; it does not announce an investment value, final investment decision, construction contract, schedule or service capacity.