The new 100 MW plant and associated infrastructure will be located at a site in the Qorao’zak district of Karakalpakstan in the north-west of the country. Potential private sector partners have therefore been invited to submit an Expression of Interest to develop, finance, construct and own the project.
The Ministry of Energy intends to develop the broader area with total wind power capacity of 300 MW, and a subsequent tender to procure the remaining 200 MW is expected to be issued shortly.
The project is supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (‘EBRD’) and the Government of Japan. Other donors are providing technical assistance as part of an overall program to develop 1 GW of wind power in the country through public-private partnerships.
This tender announcement represents the first project of the 1 GW plan and involves the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade and the Public-Private Partnership Development Agency under the Ministry of Finance.
In line with the Nationally Determined Contribution (‘NDC’) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the government of Uzbekistan is committed to the general goals of policy for improving energy efficiency and increasing the share of renewable energy in the country’s energy balance.
This new project is the latest in a series of large-scale projects in renewable energy to be announced and the last twelve months has seen a variety of committed FDI from international companies. This includes agreements signed with:
* Masdar (UAE) – construction of a 500 MW wind power plant in the Navoiy Region
* TOTAL Eren (France) – construction of a 100 MW solar power station in the Samarkand region
Sherzod Khodjaev, deputy minister of energy of Uzbekistan, said, “In these difficult times for the world economy, we are delighted to be working with the EBRD and the Government of Japan on this new wind power project. It is the first project in an ambitious program to meet increasing demands for energy and at the same time achieve a more sustainable and affordable energy ecosystem for Uzbekistan.”
